Editorial

A problem of disorder

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Recently, people were asked for feedback on a couple of pamphlets released for guidelines for care of, and advice to parents of, intersex children.  What say can I have on guidelines for dealing with children and advice for their parents? I have no children and am not in a position to do so. Those who…
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Intersex medical perspectives

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The information provided on this site is often written from a medical perspective and is provided as a service to help understand different intersex variations.  There are certain medical problems associated with some variations.  For medical help, please consult a qualified medical practitioner. OII does not accept intersex as a medical issue per se.  However, many…
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Handbook for parents

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Intersex is a normal variation of embodiment INTRODUCTION All parents wish for a healthy child. Parent are very often distressed when they first learn that their child is born with a difference, be it an illness, or a physical or mental difference.  When parents are informed of their child’s difference, they often understandably distressed.  They…
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Mission statement

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Policy statements should always be checked against the policy positions of local OII affiliates. Our Mission Campaign in favour of human rights for the intersexed. Encourage an exchange of ideas and different perspectives about intersex from various groups and geographical regions. Provide information concerning actual life experiences of people with intersex conditions to medical personnel…
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Official position on a third sex

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Policy positions should always be checked against the policy positions of local OII affiliates. On a Third Sex The creation of a new category to be designated intersex poses several problems. First of all, how do we define intersexuality? OII believes that there will be never a clear definition and at the same time, that…
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Official position on medical care

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Policy positions should always be checked against the policy positions of local OII affiliates. On Medical Care Our societies have accepted a binary construct between male and female which does not reflect Nature and the enormous variety of possible sexes which overlap one another in various gradations on a spectrum with male at one end…
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Why we do not use “Disorder of Sex Development”

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OII delivered one of the first organised English-language responses to the introduction of this terminology (acknowledging also the objections of Milton Diamond at the time, as well as David, Peter and Esther who proofread the Parent’s Handbook, and those of activists from non-English speaking countries at the time, whose work we were not all aware…
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Intergender and intersex

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Why is the intergender community so important to the intersex community? Often those of us who are intersex who also affirm our intergender identity are marginalized not only by society at large but by the intersex community itself. It is time that we take our rightful place at the table and articulate our own views about…
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