My intersex child

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My intersex child. female male fluent (2013) is a non-fiction book by Clara Morgen . It uses examples to show how doctors and society deal with intersex children. The book is a plea for diversity of more than two sexes. One of the experts is calling for doctors to be banned from operating on the genitals of an intersex child in order to turn them into a girl or a boy.

The book reports that children who have had genital surgery will later see themselves as victims of genital mutilation. According to the pediatrician Jörg Woweries, who has not let go of the issue since he retired, doctors disguise such an operation as the removal of a flaw. He asked himself what happened to the children and was surprised that there were “practically no reports or follow-up examinations at all.” Woweries points out: “You can earn money from operations, this aspect should not be forgotten . "

content

The first chapter, “Franzi”, consists of a foreword and six sections that are told along the lines of Franzi's age. In Franzi's first year of life, the signs of intersexuality are described with the following words: "The penis cannot be represented". The motto when Franzi was 4–12 years old was »Don't tell the truth«. This applies in particular to the situations in the children's shop and later in school. However, it is also shown that Franzi's mother finds ways to lift the taboo on familiar things when a suitable situation arises. Another quote from the section when Franzi was 12 years old expresses the pain of the early operation very sarcastically: "Thank you for the castration." Regarding the age of 13 to 18, the mother describes: “ I would have been killed under Hitler .” Franzi threw this sentence at my head when she came home from boarding school at around fifteen. They had just gone through the Nazi era at school and visited a nearby concentration camp. I was shocked, at a loss and completely unprepared for such a statement. ”The first public confession to intersexuality is reported from the time when Franzi was 20. In this scene, Franzi and Franzi's mother watch the film octopus alarm together at the Berlinale , “There are a lot of queer people in the hall.” During the subsequent conversation with the main actor Alex, Franzi stands up in the audience and says, “I'm also one of I am also intersex. ”The mother sums up:“ My child himself has taken the first step, has stepped out of the darkness of silence and speechlessness ”and adds:“ Out of silence, dubbing, secrecy, pressing around . ”Then the mother tells of a meeting of the XY parents' initiative on the Baltic Sea on October 21, 2012, the motto of this section is:» They look like girls and play like boys «. In her epilogue, she mentions an intersex person who was born in 1838 and who committed suicide at the age of 30 and writes: "Never again should an intersex person feel like Herculine Barbin".

In the second chapter, conversations with middle-aged adults follow: with Klara, 36 years old, who reports: "At times I felt like a monster". Jeroen, 41 years old, reports on questions from third parties: "What are you now, boy or girl?" Another mother of an intersex child who is 46 years old is quoted as follows: "A command of silence would have killed me!" The author has the fourth interview with Simon, who is 45 years old and says: "Crossing borders seems to be the theme of my life".

In the third chapter, the positions of individual experts are discussed. It consists of interviews with Claudia Kittel , National Coalition Germany ; Heinz-Jürgen Voss , biologist; Arn Sauer , TransInterQueer ; Jörg Woweries , retired pediatrician; Michael Wunder , psychotherapist .

The final part of the book consists of a detailed glossary entitled “What I Always Wanted to Know About Intersexuality” and references to books, films, and TV shows.

Opinions on the book

In her review for the TV channel arte , Catherine Marie Degrace welcomes the book as an attempt to break a taboo. Bodo Niendel is of the opinion that this book was published in autumn 2013 at the right time. It is also urgently needed, because doctors continue to operate on young children because the doctrine is that it is better for the child if a gender is established as early as possible. Niedel appreciates the book as an impressive plea against thinking in only two genders and believes that it can help everyone to question the rigid male / female pattern in their heads. Particularly shocking is the practice, which is still common today, of operating away the ambiguity as quickly as possible, so it is an enlightening book in the best sense of the word, according to the review in the ZDF broadcast Aspects on November 16, 2013. Luzia Braun and Dunja Stamer come to the conclusion, that it is time to accept the many forms in between.

occasion

The reason for the book was the statement and the subsequent crying fit of an intersex adult in summer 2011 at a hearing of the German Ethics Council in Berlin, at which the author was present in the audience: “Nobody can put themselves in our position. Nobody can understand what we are feeling. We are completely left alone ”. This scene hit her right in the heart. In the foreword of the book it is also stated that it is an attempt to approach the following questions by writing down one's own feelings as a mother: “But how do intersex people feel about themselves? How does society behave towards them? Is it even possible to do justice to such complex questions and topics? ”It bears the dedication“ For M. and K. ”, the name Clara Morgen is a pseudonym.

Intersex genital mutilation (IGMs) has been carried out systematically in western children's clinics since 1950. IGM means cosmetic "corrective operations" and castrations on children with "atypical genitals".

Reviews

expenditure

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Bodo Niendel: Appeal against gender- normalizing operations. "My intersex child". on: queer.de , October 16, 2013, previously in Jungle World , September 9, 2013.
  2. ↑ Heinz-Jürgen Voss, biologist, puts it this way: “Prohibition of gender-assigning interventions in minors who are unable to consent. In addition, it is important to work towards a society that accepts and values ​​individuality and diversity. ”- in the book p. 98.
  3. ↑ Jörg Woweries, in the book chapter “What has become of the many people who have been operated on?”, P. 107. Table of contents
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g Clara Morgen: My intersex child. female male fluent. : Transit Buchverlag, Berlin 2013, pp. 7, 9, 41, 44, 45, 53. Table of contents
  5. ↑ See also table of contents
  6. ↑ Catherine Marie Degrace: Intersexuality: Trying to lift a taboo. on: videos.arte.tv (ARTE-TV, Journal), November 1, 2013.
  7. ↑ Luzia Braun, Dunja Stamer: New rights for intersexuals? Intersexuals have a place in the German law for the first time: At birth, the entry on gender must be omitted. A progress? ( Memento of the original from April 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on: ZDF , broadcast in aspects , 6 minutes, November 16, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.zdf.de
  8. ↑ Innsbruck May 6-10: Info + protests against intersex genital mutilators "25th ESPU 2014". on: Zwischengeschlecht.org , April 27, 2014.