A South Carolina couple is suing the state for performing sexual-reassignment surgery on an intersex toddler born with both male and female reproductive organs, calling the procedure irreversible and medically unnecessary.
The surgery was performed while the child (now aged eight, and who identifies as male) was in the states care. The lawsuit, filed by the his adoptive parents Mark and Pam Crawfordin partnership with the Southern Poverty Law Center, accuses the Department of Social Services and others of performing a dangerous and mutilating surgery to radically restructure [the child's] reproductive organs in order to make his body appear to be female without medical justification.
As reported by NBC News affiliate WSFA:
The lawsuit states doctors, acting as agents of Defendant hospitals, performed the surgery for the purpose of assigning the child the female gender despite their own conclusion that the toddler was a true hermaphrodite but there was no compelling reason that she should either be made male or female.
At birth, the child was identified as a male because of his external genitalia, but shortly after that doctors discovered the baby had ambiguous genitals and both male and female internal reproductive structures, according to the lawsuit.
Defendants decided to remove the childs healthy genital tissue and radically restructure his reproductive organs in order to make his body appear to be female, the lawsuit states.
The suit says doctors performed the operation despite the fact the toddler had high levels of testosterone and couldve been raised as a healthy male or female. Advocates said the surgery carries a host of potential side effects.
The lawsuit also states that the surgery deprived the child of the right to choose his gender identity later in life, according to co-counsel Anne Tamar-Mattis of Advocates for Informed Choice (AIC). The initial sex assignment may be at odds with the gender identity that develops, she said in a statement.There may be diminished sexual sensation, sexual dysfunction, chronic pain, loss of potential fertility, loss of the important health benefits of hormones, and psychological trauma comparable to that of child sexual abuse.
The case, which is the first of its kind, is about ensuring the safety of all children who do not have a voice, Tamar-Mattis added.
Its too late for my son, but we want to put other doctors on notice, Mark Crawford said in a statement on Tuesday.
Original post:
Couple files groundbreaking lawsuit over child’s sexual-reassignment surgery
- The truth about guys and sex: They fake it, too - April 29th, 2013 [April 29th, 2013]
- Rock-It Man male sexual performance drug recalled - April 29th, 2013 [April 29th, 2013]
- Judge approves class-action lawsuit over erectile dysfunction link to prostate, baldness drugs - April 29th, 2013 [April 29th, 2013]
- Apricus, Innovus tackle bedroom disorders - April 29th, 2013 [April 29th, 2013]
- Ask Dr. K: Precautions for male bicyclists - April 29th, 2013 [April 29th, 2013]
- Advanced Male Medical Center Announces Hiring of Erick Salazar - April 29th, 2013 [April 29th, 2013]
- Faking the big O - April 29th, 2013 [April 29th, 2013]
- Priapus Shot - Video - April 29th, 2013 [April 29th, 2013]
- Trimel Submits New Drug Application for CompleoTRT(TM) to FDA - April 30th, 2013 [April 30th, 2013]
- 4 Bio Stocks to Buy Today - May 1st, 2013 [May 1st, 2013]
- Class-Action Lawsuit on Propecia Erectile Dysfunction Approved: Now, AttorneyOne Can Provide Advice - May 3rd, 2013 [May 3rd, 2013]
- Trimel to Report First Quarter 2013 Results and Host Investor Call - May 3rd, 2013 [May 3rd, 2013]
- Acupuncture Presentation Part 2 - Video - May 6th, 2013 [May 6th, 2013]
- Sixty-One Per Cent of Women Say their Sex Lives are Suffering Due to a Condition of Menopause - May 7th, 2013 [May 7th, 2013]
- Apricus Biosciences Announces Poster Presentation of Vitaros(R) Data in Men Previously Unresponsive to PDE-5 ... - May 8th, 2013 [May 8th, 2013]
- Dietary Supplement Lightning Rod Capsules Recall - May 8th, 2013 [May 8th, 2013]
- Apricus Biosciences Announces First Quarter 2013 Financial Results Conference Call - May 8th, 2013 [May 8th, 2013]
- BioSante Pharmaceuticals and ANI Pharmaceuticals Announce Special Meetings of Stockholders to Consider Proposed Merger - May 9th, 2013 [May 9th, 2013]
- Why Wait? Enlast Personal Male Lubricant. Stop Premature Ejaculation In Its Tracks With Enlast.flv - Video - May 9th, 2013 [May 9th, 2013]
- Searching For Male Fountain of Youth? Go Exercise - May 11th, 2013 [May 11th, 2013]
- BioSante Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Reports First Quarter Financial Results - May 11th, 2013 [May 11th, 2013]
- Apricus Biosciences Provides First Quarter 2013 Corporate Update - May 11th, 2013 [May 11th, 2013]
- DGAP-News: Apricus Biosciences Provides First Quarter 2013 Corporate Update - May 11th, 2013 [May 11th, 2013]
- Sex and the elderly male - May 12th, 2013 [May 12th, 2013]
- Couple sues state over toddler's sexual-reassignment surgery - May 15th, 2013 [May 15th, 2013]
- Columbia couple sues state over toddler’s sexual-reassignment surgery - May 15th, 2013 [May 15th, 2013]
- If Sexual Dysfunction Were a Virus, "It'd Be Pandemic": Expert - May 16th, 2013 [May 16th, 2013]
- The Dangers Lurking in Male Sexual Supplements - May 17th, 2013 [May 17th, 2013]
- West Jordan man pleads guilty to falsely advertising, selling Viagra-like drug - May 17th, 2013 [May 17th, 2013]
- Manning up to the church - May 20th, 2013 [May 20th, 2013]
- Boy who manned up to the church - May 20th, 2013 [May 20th, 2013]
- The low-down on erectile problems - May 21st, 2013 [May 21st, 2013]
- Study: Genital Warts May Lead to Sexual Dysfunction; polyDNA Recommends Gene-Eden-VIR Against the Genital Warts Virus - May 22nd, 2013 [May 22nd, 2013]
- Quit smoking for a better sex life - study - May 22nd, 2013 [May 22nd, 2013]
- If It Doesn’t Make Us Nymphos, Female Viagra Will Save Monogamy - May 23rd, 2013 [May 23rd, 2013]
- Erectile dysfunction drugs sold as herbal medicine - May 24th, 2013 [May 24th, 2013]
- Heart failure ups risk of male menopause 4 fold - May 25th, 2013 [May 25th, 2013]
- Heart failure accelerates male 'menopause' - May 25th, 2013 [May 25th, 2013]
- New Asia-Pacific Sexual Satisfaction Study Pulls Back the Covers on Relationship Tension Facing Couples - May 28th, 2013 [May 28th, 2013]
- Heart Disease Accelerates Male Menopause - May 29th, 2013 [May 29th, 2013]
- Igniting woman's sexual desire is more than popping pill - May 30th, 2013 [May 30th, 2013]
- Warning: 'Natural' sex supplements may not be - May 31st, 2013 [May 31st, 2013]
- Dangers of sex supplements - May 31st, 2013 [May 31st, 2013]
- Warning: Men's natural sex supplements may not be - May 31st, 2013 [May 31st, 2013]
- Sex is doctor's life's work - June 1st, 2013 [June 1st, 2013]
- Sex is life's work for doctor - June 3rd, 2013 [June 3rd, 2013]
- Sexual stress common in men - June 6th, 2013 [June 6th, 2013]
- Sexual performance anxiety - June 6th, 2013 [June 6th, 2013]
- Affirm XL, Inc. Re-launches U.S. Made Sexual Enhancement Dietary Supplement - June 6th, 2013 [June 6th, 2013]
- Apricus Biosciences Receives European Approval for Vitaros(R) for the Treatment of Erectile Dysfunction - June 11th, 2013 [June 11th, 2013]
- DGAP-News: Apricus Biosciences Receives European Approval for Vitaros(R) for the Treatment of Erectile Dysfunction - June 11th, 2013 [June 11th, 2013]
- BPA linked to obesity risk in puberty-age girls - June 13th, 2013 [June 13th, 2013]
- Baldness drug curbs interest in alcohol, study says- Fla. mom dies after butt enhancing injections - June 14th, 2013 [June 14th, 2013]
- Anti-baldness drug can cause men to lose interest in alcohol - June 14th, 2013 [June 14th, 2013]