Despite ethical disputes in the literature on intersex pediatric surgery, there is no defensible argument for a surgical moratorium on intersex pediatric surgery, and consequently intersex pediatric surgery is sometimes morally permissible. To argue for this claim, this work proceeds in four parts. The first part begins by setting the philosophical and clinical stage by defining biological sex, intersex conditions, and intersex pediatric surgery. The second is to illustrate and contrast contemporary clinical practice and the ethical literature, predominantly secular, on the ethics of the surgery, highlighting areas of overlap and disagreement. The third is to appraise contemporary secular arguments against intersex pediatric surgery, specifically those which are representative of the strongest arguments against it. The fourth is to criticize the secular ethical discourse, and consequently motivate, in light of the poverty of argumentation in the secular literature, the need for a robust natural law evaluation of intersex pediatric surgery.
BenneckeE.BernsteinS.LeeP.van de GriftT. C.NordenskjöldA.RappM.. 2021. “Early Genital Surgery in Disorders/Differences of Sex Development: Patients’ Perspectives.” Archives of Sexual Behavior50 (3): 913–23.
2.
Clune-TaylorC.2019. “Securing Cisgendered Futures: Intersex Management Under the ‘Disorders of Sex Development’ Treatment Model.” Hypatia34 (4): 690–712.
3.
CornwallS.2013. Theology and Sexuality. London: SCM Press.
4.
“Darlington Statement: Joint Consensus Statement from the Intersex Community Retreat in Darlington, March 2017.”2017. https://darlington.org.au/statement/.
5.
EldersM. J.SatcherD.CarmonaR.. 2017. Re-Thinking Genital Surgeries on Intersex Infants. Palm Center: Blueprints for Sound Public Policy.
6.
FederE. K.DregerA.. 2016. “Still Ignoring Human Rights in Intersex Care.” Journal of Pediatric Urology12 (6): 1–2.
7.
GedgeE. 2008. “Genetics, Disability and Symbolic Harm.” In Social Studies of Health, Illness and Disease: Perspectives from the Social Sciences and Humanities, edited by TwohigPeter L.KalitzkusVera, 227–36. Netherlands: Brill.
8.
GriffithsA. G.2018. “Shifting Syndromes: Sex Chromosome Variations and Intersex Classifications.” Social Studies of Science48 (1): 125–48.
HolmesM. M.2008. “Mind the Gaps: Intersex and (Re-Productive) Spaces in Disability Studies and Bioethics.” Bioethical Inquiry5: 169–81.
12.
InterAct. 2017. “I Want to Be Like Nature Made Me”: Medically Unnecessary Surgeries on Intersex Children in the US. United States of America: Human Rights Watch.
KoyamaEmi. 2006. “From ‘Intersex’ to ‘DSD’: Toward a Queer Disability Politics of Gender.” Presentation at the Translating Identity Conference, University of Vermont, February.
17.
LeePeter A. 2004. “A Perspective on the Approach to the Intersex Child Born with Genital Ambiguity.” Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism17 (2): 133–140.
18.
LeePeter A.FuquaJohn S.HoukChristopher P.KoganBarry A.MazurTomCaldamoneAnthony. 2020. “Individualized Care for Patients with Intersex (Disorders/Differences of Sex Development): Part I.” Journal of Pediatric Urology16 (2): 230–7.
19.
Lenhart, Erik. (2015). “People Born with Intersex Conditions.” The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, 15 (3): 453-463.
20.
Meyer-BahlburgHeino F. L. 2022. “The Timing of Genital Surgery in Somatic Intersexuality: Surveys of Patients’ Preferences.” Hormone Research in Paediatrics95 (1): 12–20.
21.
PaterskiV.HughesI. A.. 2010. “Impact of the Consensus Statement and the New DSD Classification System.” Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism24: 187–95.
22.
RehmanR. 2023a. ‘Intersex’ Does Not Violate the Sex Binary.” The Linacre Quarterly90 (2): 145–54.
23.
RehmanR. 2023b. “The Ethics of Intersex Pediatric Surgery.” PhD dissertation, University of Toronto.
24.
RehmanR. 2024. “Intersex-selective Abortion is a Problem for Everyone.” National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly24 (2): 219–21.
