Parents feel shock, anxiety and the need to protect children with genital ambiguity
Wednesday, September 28, 2011 - 20:30
in Psychology & Sociology
Parents of babies born without clearly defined male or female genitals experience a roller-coaster of emotions, including shock, anxiety and the need to protect their child. Researchers who spoke to 15 parents found that they were keen to find a sense of harmony between their child's genital ambiguity and the sex they raised them as. All the children had disorders of sex development, which include conditions where the chromosomes, testicles, ovaries or sexual anatomy are not as expected. It's estimated that one in 300 babies are born with concerns about the development of their external genitalia and in one in 5,000 births the baby's sex is unclear despite expert examination.