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12 Cardozo J.L. & Gender 5 (2005-2006)
David Reimer's Legacy Limiting Parental Discretion

handle is hein.journals/cardw12 and id is 15 raw text is: DAVID REIMER'S LEGACY: LIMITING PARENTAL DISCRETION HAZEL GLENN BEH & MILTON DIAMOND* I. INTRODUCTION In this essay, the authors examine parental decision-making and challenge parental authority to consent to infant surgery to normalize ambiguous genitalia of intersexed infants. The authors contend that consent to sex assignment and genital normalizing surgery in particular exceeds parental authority because it unnecessarily forecloses the child's right to an open future. Moreover, conflicted by their own anxieties, guilt, shame, or repugnance, parents may not be able to act solely in their child's best interest. Making matters worse, the lack of adequate long-term follow-up studies as well as clinical experience suggests that parents often decide with incomplete information about surgical outcomes and the psychosocial adjustment of intersex individuals who have not had surgery. This article is not intended as criticism of parents for past decisions, but rather to encourage parents now making medical decisions not to yield to unwarranted fears about their child's future. The increasing activism of the intersex community, the extraordinary resources available on the internet, and a growing body of evidence suggests that genitalia are of little consequence to gender identity, and this knowledge should empower parents to resist what has been characterized as a monster approach to treating ambiguous genitalia. The law has a role to play in diffusing the terror, and in supporting parents who are faced with the prospect of raising children with genitalia that fall outside of the normal standards, the narrow limits of which are imposed and perpetuated by intolerance. Accounts from parents of children with ambiguous genitalia reported in recent news articles about intersex surgery illustrate the nature of their concerns regarding their children's future: My problem is the adolescent period .... Growing up a teenage girl is hard enough. I never want her to feel different. I never want her to have extra Hazel Glenn Beh, Ph.D., J.D., Wm. S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawaii and Milton Diamond, Ph.D., John A. Bums School of Medicine, University of Hawaii. Email inquires to hazelb@hawaii.edu or diamond@hawaii.edu. Support for Milton Diamond's work comes from the Eugene Garfield Foundation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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