http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=93292&d=8&m=3&y=2007&pix=kingdom.jpg&category=Kingdom
Thursday, 8, March, 2007 (18, Safar, 1428)
Symposium Throws Light on Sex-Correction Operations
Lulwa Shalhoub & Razan Baker, Arab News
JEDDAH, 8 March 2007 - When a baby is born, the first question people ask
after congratulating the parents is whether the newborn is a boy or a girl. In
cases where the parents and the doctors do not know, there is a problem. This
is the case with babies born with ambiguous genitalia.
"In such abnormal cases the male reproductive systems are either bigger
than the female reproductive systems or smaller than the normal male systems,"
said Dr. Yasser Jamal, professor of pediatric surgery at Jeddah's King Abdul
Aziz University Hospital (KAUH).
KAUH has undertaken 300 sex-correction operations in the past 25 years,
operating on babies from across the Kingdom and also neighboring countries.
Now, the hospital is set to establish a specialist center to deal with such
cases.
The issue was the subject of discussion at the two-day Intersex Symposium
that began here yesterday at the King Fahd Center for Medical Research.
Solving the problem of ambiguous genitalia begins with deciding what the
baby's chromosomes are to determine sex. If they are XX then the baby is
considered to be female and if the baby has XY chromosomes, then it is
considered to be a boy. There are three types of intersex babies. Either the
baby has more male genitals than female genitals. In such a case, doctors fix
the male side of the baby. Or the baby has more female genitals, in which case
doctors would fix the female side of the baby.
The third type of intersex baby is the epicene - a baby that has one
ovary and one testis. In such a situation, doctors check to see which sex the
baby is closer to. If the problem is discovered when the baby has grown up,
then doctors will see how the individual has been raised by his or her family.
In such a case they would also take into consideration whether the individual
involved is capable of marrying and getting pregnant and then accordingly
decide which sex would be most appropriate.
In such cases, most parents prefer their babies become male rather than
female. "Adults who grow up as females with male genitals experience less
social difficulties when they go through sex-correction operations to become
males since they end up having the freedom to drive, go out and do more
activities than girls in our society," said Dr. Jamal, adding that the
situation is just the opposite for males who later in life become females.
Once a person's gender is changed, his or her legal papers and identity
documents are altered after a hospital report is issued saying that the
individual's sex has been changed. "I strongly do not recommend delivering
babies at home. Newborn babies must be checked to treat them at an early stage
if they have an intersex problem so they don't suffer the experience of
changing gender later in life. This is something which needs psychological
therapy," said Dr. Jamal.
Genetic reasons are the most common causes of intersex cases. "But
certain medicines that mothers take during pregnancies also affect babies,"
said Dr. Jamal.
Operations cost SR50,000 to SR100,000 - something, which hospitals
perform for free as well. It takes six months to one year to diagnose a case,
do the operation and complete hormonal treatment.
Dr. Jamal added that people who undergo sex change must not be ashamed of
themselves because this is how Allah has created them and it is through no
fault of their own. However, he pointed out, people who change their sex for no
medical reason are the ones who should be ashamed.
He added that people who undergo sex correction can get married and have
children unlike people who change their sex for no medical reason.
It is religiously forbidden to do surgery on normal people who want to
change sex, he said, adding, "We do get some requests but I refuse doing such
operations. They are fooling themselves and would be cheating their partners if
they got married because they would not be able to lead a normal life afterward
and their partners would be the victims."
He then mentioned a British woman in the UK who requested a divorce after
17 years of marriage because she found out that her husband had undergone a sex
change and was now female. The British courts, according to the doctor,
divorced the couple and awarded custody of their daughter to the mother because
the child had been conceived from an unknown sperm donor through artificial
insemination. The husband apologized but the harm had already been done, said
Dr. Jamal.
He added that if the courts in the UK divorced the couple by considering
such a gender operation to be a form of deceit then doctors should, in the
first place, not accept doing such operations.
Dr. Jamal said that the wider public is duty bound to help people who
want to undergo sex changes by making them believe in themselves and develop
self-confidence. As for those who have no other choice, people should help them
forget their past and encourage them to move on with their new lives.
Dr. Jamal together with Dr. Muhammad Al-Bar, consultant of internal
medicine at KAUH, have also published a book on the subject.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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