As everyone probably knows I have a boy - so please take my comments as simply a concerned person - not someone who has personal experience in making a very difficult decision for their child.

That said - Joan, your message discussed stopping the practice of clitoral surgery in patients without their informed consent. Your questions for Dr. New focused on consent. There are so many things parents are legally, morally, etc etc bound to decide for their child, I wonder if "consent" is an unwinnable battle. What if you focused on the "practice of clitoral surgery" instead. With a presumption that parents want to do what is best for their child, I wonder if simply getting all the availalbe information to parents at the first discussion would be the biggest way to reduce surgeries. I think (from reading messages on the board) that many dr.s simply say "your daughter needs surgery". This is what the parents then expect to happen. Parents trust the dr's recommendation. 

I may be really off the mark here if your goal is focused on the consent, but, if your goal is to eliminate unnecessary surgeries, maybe the focus should be on getting info to the parents at the very beginning.