Adult Genital Surgery for Intersex: A Solution to What Problem?

TLDR

The desirability of routine genital surgery for infants with ambiguous genitalia is increasingly debated, yet there is less discussion about intersex adults who choose surgery, despite evidence that outcomes are often unsatisfactory. This study reports how six intersex women chose feminizing genital surgery and how they evaluated the outcomes. The authors used a Foucauldian discourse analysis to trace a chronological shift from viewing surgery as nondilemmatic to a serious dilemma, situating the women’s experiences in cultural context. The study discusses implications for psychological involvement in services for women with intersex conditions.

Abstract

The desirability of routine genital surgery for infants with ambiguous genitalia is increasingly debated. But there is less discussion about intersex adults who choose genital surgery, despite evidence suggesting that the results are often unsatisfactory. This study reports on how six women with intersex conditions decided to have feminizing genital surgery and how they evaluated the outcomes. The initial analysis highlighted a chronological transition from surgery as nondilemmatic to surgery as a serious dilemma; a version of Foucauldian discourse analysis was then used to place the women's experiences in a cultural context. The implications for psychological involvement in services for women with intersex conditions are discussed.