Intersex and Families: Supporting Family Members With Intersex Variations

People with intersex variations have congenital atypical sex characteristics (chromosomal, hormonal, and/or anatomical) and receive protection against discrimination in only three countries globally; these include Australia, where the case study on which this chapter centers was based. This article considers the complex dynamics of family for people with intersex variations from their own perspective, filling a significant gap in the existing literature on family strengths studies of intersex issues. It draws on data from an Australian survey of 272 people with intersex variations and specifically considers in detail for the first time questions on these participants’ family discussions of intersex issues, family support levels, and family information sharing. It also considers the contribution of families to the participants’ gender rearing, surgical and hormonal medical interventions, and feelings about having intersex variations. Finally, it discusses the participants’ views on key parenting debates about rearing children with intersex variations. Overall, the data confirmed the hypothesis that family relationships are strained by disordering of intersex variations, which is viewed as problematic. The data showed that participants wanted their families to embrace their natural (intersex) bodies more strongly rather than seek “corrective” measures, provide more information, and protect them from early medical intervention