How have most western societies responded to the small minority of individuals who are intersex (born with a combination of male and female genitalia, gonads, and/or chromosomes)?

Most western societies have catered to the intersex by assigning a gender. With surgery and/or hormone treatments, intersex individuals may identify with a gender category depending on their psychological experience. Gender identity and gender development can go hand-in-hand for intersex people (same as all others).

The term intersex is a condition used to define a person who is born with sexual abnormalities. This condition is also called as disorders of sex development.  

Further Explanation:

Western societies responded to the small minority of individuals who are intersex by helping them to assign a gender either by surgery and hormonal treatment. Babies born intersex conditions have underdeveloped gonads.

Such babies are not classified as male or female. The symptoms of this condition involves partial labial fusion, electrolyte abnormalities, changes at the time of puberty, labial masses in girl that may further turn out into testes and undescended testes that may turn out to be ovaries in boys. Hormone replacement therapy is used for the treatment of intersex people. Sex hormone replacement therapy is used for stimulation of sexual development.  

This therapy is also used for the treatment of growth of hypoplastic penis in boys, changes related to puberty in males and females, psychosexual development and to improve sexual behaviour in adults.  

This type of therapy is also used for treatment of unborn child. Surgery of intersex individuals involves masculinizing and feminizing surgeries and genital surgeries are recommended for intersex childs and infants in order to reduce the risk of developing health threatening conditions.  

The examples of intersex conditions involves Klinefelter syndrome, Turner syndrome, vaginal atresia, 5-alpha-reductase deficiency.

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Answer Details:

Grade: College Biology

Subject: Biology

Topic: Intersex

Keywords:

Intersex, hormone, syndrome, surgery, deficiency, hormonal therapy, sexual behaviour.

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