NOW has taken a stand against early genital plastic surgery on children born with ambiguous genitalia.

PLEASE understand that medical experts are following the same courses of action that they have been following for over 50 years. This is changing ~ will change ~ as they begin to accept that tolerance of differences is more crucial than making quick decisions.

PLEASE comprehend that the shame and silence of their patients has led them to believe we are all satisfied with our surgeries. Nothing could be further from the truth.

PLEASE believe in yourself that you are loving enough to bond with your child regardless of the way their genitals look.

If you believe in a God, then you believe that your child was created perfectly. Just because society has the knowledge to make us all look the same doesn't mean we should.

Adult CAH patients are finding their voices. We have been shamed into silence, have been isolated from each other. We are finding our voices for your daughters and sons, because we believe ~ we know from experience ~ that genital surgery and conformity does not change how/what we feel inside. In fact, the early surgery, genital checks, and further surgery we endured as we became young adults have emotionally scarred us far into our adult years. Five decades of confusion and pain are enough.

NOW RESOLUTION: FREEDOM OF CHOICE FOR INTERSEX GIRLS - A GIRL'S RIGHT TO CHOOSE

WHEREAS, since 1967 the National Organization for Women (NOW) has been the nation's leading organization in the movement for women's reproductive freedom and bodily integrity; and

WHEREAS, NOW has recognized that reproductive freedom is more than access to safe and legal abortion and birth control, and that it includes freedom from unecessary hysterectomy, involuntary sterilization, and other medical procedures performed without the proper informed consent of the patient; and

WHEREAS, at least one in every 2,000 children - primarily girls - are born with atypical sexual anatomy and, before they are old enough to choose for themselves or provide informed consent, are frequently subjected to invasive hormonal and surgical procedures to make their bodies more closely resemble doctors' ideas of "normal" female appearance; and

WHEREAS, the parents of intersex girls are rarely given full, fair, and accurate information about their daughters' conditions, the risks involved in medical procedures, or referrals to supportive information and groups; and

WHEREAS, many intersex girls grow up hurt, isolated, and ashamed due to the procedures carried out on them and the subsequent violations of their bodies without their choice or consent; and

WHEREAS, in recent years many intersex women have come forward to report that the medical interventions they sustained without their choice or consent have been a source of profound psychological, physical, and sexual harm to them; and

WHEREAS, the Intersex Society of North America (ISNA) and GenderPAC have worked to end secrecy and shame surrounding the unwanted genital surgeries performed on intersex girls, and to promote recognition of intersex girls' right to choose and be fully informed about medical decisions involving their bodies and genitals:

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that NOW support GenderPAC and ISNA in the struggle to end secrecy and shame surrounding intersex women and girls and to promote intersex girls' right to choose and be fully informed on medical decisions involving their bodies and genitals; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that NOW support and uphold intersex girls right to choose and be fully informed regarding cosmetic medical procedures involving their bodies and genitals; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that NOW urge the medical community, in conjunction with patient advocacy groups, to establish and adopt a patient-centered protocol under which full, fair, and accurate information, supportive information and resources, and referrals to groups or adult intersex women are provided to the parents of intersex girls.

***********************

Resolution approved and adopted by the 2001 NOW Convention in Philadelphia on July 1st, 2001.

**************

PLEASE listen to us. We are the voice of experience.

Respectfully,

Janet