As reported today in a joint article by USA Today and The 19th, a spokesperson for Boston Children’s Hospital told The 19th that it “will not perform clitoroplasty or vaginoplasty in patients who are too young to participate in a meaningful discussion of the implications of these surgeries, unless anatomical differences threaten the physical health of the child.” The decision came from the hospital’s behavioral health, endocrinology and urology program.

As we know, no movement attains it’s goals immediately, and this one is no different. So many intersex activists, starting with those who led the charge into unchartered waters over two decades ago, and the many who joined them over the years, are responsible for making this moment possible, and we thank them all!

In particular, we thank the activists and allies who worked to educate the staff at Boston Children’s Hospital, such as the educational work by the intersex team coordinated for the film Intersex and Faith, born from a partnership between Lianne Simon, a Christian intersex author, and Megan DeFranza, a non-intersex Christian theologian and author, and the work of InterACT: Advocates for Intersex Youth, a Massachusetts based intersex organization.

What a beautiful, amazing development on the heels of a similar announcement by Lurie Children’s Hospital this past July!

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2020/10/22/intersex-surgery-boston-childrens-hospitals-decision-watershed-moment-rights/3721096001/