Intersexuality

Published: 23 Februar 2012

Being a part of social diversity, people with differences of sex development (DSD) deserve respect and support and must be protected from undesirable medical developments and from discrimination in the community. The Opinion's discussions are centered around the question of what this call for greater respect for these people implies.

Considering the case, that a person's physical integrity requires an irreversible medical sex disambiguation or sex assignment measure, the relevant decision should always be taken solely by the individual concerned. In the case of a minor, such measures should be adopted only if absolutely necessary for safeguarding the child's well-being and only after thorough consideration of all their medical, psychological and psychosocial advantages, disadvantages and long-term consequences. Medical diagnosis and treatment of persons with DSD should be restricted to specialized interdisciplinary centers of competence and should be comprehensively documented and archived. Moreover, self-help groups and associations of intersex people should in addition be assisted from public funds.

The Ethics Council also believes that the compulsory binary classification of "male" and "female" in the civil registry should be ceased and non-binary people should be enabled to have registered civil partnerships.