DR UBALDINA NORONHA
I used to see a confident intersex person at a supermarket who would be ridiculed silently, simply by being dressed as a man, as he appeared effeminate in his interactions. On October 26, the world observed Intersex Awareness Day. For most, the day went by without a passing thought. Yet the day highlights people who have always existed among us but who often remain unseen or ridiculed because society insists that human bodies must fit neatly into only two boxes: male or female.
Nature, however, is not always so binary. “Intersex” is an umbrella term for people born with sex characteristics that do not fit the usual medical definitions of male or female bodies. Sex development is a complex process. It begins with chromosomes and continues through hormones.
Usually, these steps follow a familiar pattern. But sometimes chromosomes, hormone production or the body’s response to hormones differ. A child may be born with genitalia that are not clearly typical male or female, or with chromosomes outside the usual XX or XY pattern, or with a body that develops differently at puberty. These are natural variations of human development, not a curse or punishment nor a moral failing. The medical world often uses the term “Differences of Sex Development” for this.
Globally, experts estimate that between 0.05 per cent and 1.7 per cent of people are born with intersex traits. If we apply even a conservative estimate to India’s population, the number is not small. Yet India does not maintain a separate, reliable national count of intersex births. There are no statistics available to tell us how many intersex children are born each year, how many families conceal the fact, or how many intersex adults live silently with a variation they have never been helped to understand.
For centuries, intersex people were treated as curiosities, omens or problems to be corrected. In many cultures, a child whose sex was unclear could bring fear, shame and social isolation to a family. Instead of asking how to support the child, society often insisted on hiding the difference.
Doctors and families were pressured to ‘choose’ a sex, sometimes through early and irreversible surgeries, so that the child could be made to look normal. The child’s future consent, bodily integrity and emotional wellbeing were frequently treated as secondary. Such an approach may appear to be protective, but it can also be prejudice dressed up as care.
Research finds that intersex people experience higher levels of anxiety, depression, psychological distress, stigma, social isolation and discrimination than the general population. Recent studies link lower psychological wellbeing among intersex people with shame, internalised stigma, late diagnosis, negative body image, low self-esteem and unsympathetic healthcare experiences.
Families suffer too. Parents may feel confused, frightened and isolated, especially when they receive incomplete information or feel pressured to make urgent decisions about their child’s body. Think of what this means. Before the child can speak, adults may already have decided what must be altered, concealed or denied. Later, the child grows up carrying secrets, shame and unanswered questions.
Many people do not know what ‘intersex’ means, so they confuse it with transgender identity, transsexuality or illness. A transgender person’s gender identity differs from the sex assigned at birth. An intersex person’s body itself shows a variation in sex characteristics. Both transgenders and intersex people in India are covered under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2019. The act recognises intersex variations and prohibits discrimination in education, employment, healthcare, public services, residence and movement. These are important words on paper. But laws cannot change minds by themselves. A person may have legal protection and still be made to feel that their existence is embarrassing.
The problem is our lack of knowledge and our discomfort with difference. We need hospital protocols that place the intersex child’s long-term wellbeing and consent at the centre. We need counselling for parents so that fear does not turn into secrecy. We need employers, educational institutions and local bodies in Goa to make inclusion practical through confidential support, non-discriminatory records, trained staff and public awareness.
It is time to replace any prejudice with respect, secrecy with support and silence with understanding. Intersex people are not a mistake of nature. They are part of nature’s diversity while being as human as anyone else.
(The writer is Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, St Xavier’s College, Mapusa)
