Mommy, Am I A Boy Or A Girl?

CBS News ^ | February 18, 2005

[Dianna]

This follows the mistaken logic that a woman is nothing more than a man without a penis. But there's obviously more to it than that.

No, I think the primary determinant was that is it easier to create a functioning vagina than a functioning penis. I believe that most Dr's and parents have done what they think is best. It's a hard decision to make, I imagine.

[Dianna]

Empathy is a sign of a healthy person, right?

I'm going to choose to believe that some of our friends here didn't read past the title of the article. I'd hate to think some people could just be mean about a deformity.

[Argh]

To quote Shelley Berman, to a mother whose son didn't know which he was, "Don't let him grow up and make an arbitrary decision!"

[El Gato]

One of the more common is congenital adrenal hyperplasia. In such cases, genetic girls with XX chromosomes are exposed in the womb to such high levels of androgen — the hormone that triggers male development — that they appear male externally even if they have female reproductive organs. A different condition leaves genetic males less responsive to androgen during development, so they're born without a penis.

Nah, different thing entirely. Most lesbians do not appear male, and most male homosexuals do not appear female.

[Paul C. Jesup]

Sex change operations on physically healthy individuals are extremely questionable, and probably should be outlawed. Sex change operations on damaged babies are more understandable and arguable

That is the most twisted logic I have seen in a while, ban mature adults from doing something that you would force on babies.

[stands2reason]

So you think the doctors should pick a sex and create the genitals to match? Sexual identity is more than just having the right genitalia. Unless you think that men's and women's brains are exactly the same? You can't just take a child that's mentally a boy and make the parts female and expect everything to be fine.

[7.62 x 51mm]

Yes, I did.

[7.62 x 51mm]

Whatever are you talking about?

[cloud8]

> I was there. Poor, poor baby.

Yeah. I did a gig in Urology at Childrens' Hospital. Some of these kids...makes your heart break.

[elhombrelibre]

I think what it is is so many of them read something like this article and they don't really believe it; they don't believe some poor babies are born with this physical trait of not being clearly of one gender, and they believe it's really another Liberal scam. Normally, it's very healthy to be cynical about Liberals, but this has nothing to do with Liberalism. Now, when the Liberals want to use this issue to further hijack the topic of gender, we should give them a good horselaugh.

[dpa5923]

I remember a news program (forget if it was 20/20 or 48 hours or 60 minutes or whatever) about a boy who had his penis burnt off during circumcision. (I didn't even know they burnt the foreskin off, I always thought it was just cut off).

The parents and doctors agreed to make the boy a girl because he had no penis. To make a long story short, the kid had and has huge emotion and psychological problems because the so-called experts (doctors) and adults (parents) didn't realize a penis is not what makes a male a male.

If someone doesn't understand this, they should never have children. Ever!

Think about it. If you were in a horrible accident and suffered severe damage to your pubic area so your sex organs were destroyed, would you cease to be a man or woman?

The doctors in your example didn’t make the boy a girl. They simply restructured his pelvic area.

[stands2reason]

Guys, this is nothing new.

Pusical deformities have been occurring since time began.

[stands2reason]

Are you serious about implying that physical deformities are some new kiddie fad?

[Trinity_Tx]

"Folks this is good news. It used to be that Doc's would make the sex assignment determination when the child was an infant - only later to find out that they "assigned" the incorrect gender.

Early sex assignment arose in parallel to feminist dogma that promulgated the idea that gender was environmental. Meaning, if you were raised as a boy you would grow into to a boy. This concept was a pillar of feminism.

Of course they were wrong."


Exactly. Environment has its influences too, but male and female brains are gender wired before birth just as are our visible "parts."


Yes, the fact that they don't always match 100% of the time does give a small portion of gays or trans-genders a biological explanation for their predispositions, but only a very small portion.

[stands2reason]

Pusical =physical

[highlandbreeze]

I wasn't saying he is now magically a girl. I just said what the doctors decided to do. No, I didn't think their decision was correct, and said so, but that was the decision of the parents also. All, I did was take care of the baby as best as I could.

I believe that the feminazis are the ones who tried to convince everyone that iit's the environment that decides our sex. But, you and I( and everyone here) know that's not true.

Can we be friends now? =0)

[7.62 x 51mm]

Hell, NO; where'd you glom that crappola idea? Dumbest supposition statement I've ever heard. Yuk.

[Dianna]

To make a long story short, the kid had and has huge emotion and psychological problems because the so-called experts (doctors) and adults (parents) didn't realize a penis is not what makes a male a male.

It was quite a few years ago. Just recently we have seen articles and studies in which some morons are just "discovering" that boys and girls are actually different! A large segment of the population seems to have believed that "nurture" was all there was to it. That's why we have parents today who are stunned when their little boys make guns with their hands. Some people think it is the toy which drives the impulse.

[GatorGirl]

I don't see, in this day and age, why the choice would be random. Can't the child's DNA be tested to see which chromosomes are carried, if it's a straight birth defect? It is probably much less traumatic to do the surgery on an infant than waiting until the child "develops" into a boy or girl.

If it's another condition which causes the gender to be genetically undiscernable (is this a word?) then I think the child should be left alone. Like any other disability, the child adapts to it if it's handled correctly by the parents. Besides, by the time the child can vocalize the question "Am I a boy or girl?" the parents will probably be able to tell by certain behavioral traits which tend toward male or female. Genitalia isn't the only determining factor!

My heart goes out to these poor infants and their families. Birth defects are terrible and heartbreaking.

You are right that gender should not be chosen randomly or for convenience in these cases.

[stands2reason]

From this:

Golly gee whiz. Neither me (1949) or my sister (1951) had to ask Mom or dad who or what we were.

WTH's wrong with todays kids/punks/lowlifes? WTF?