Multi #5 - New 'Third Sex' law aims to reduce surgery

The definition of intersex, according to experts on CNN's coverage on Germany's new third sex law, is when "a child cannot be identified as male or female due to physical variations.  Another piece to this definition includes the child's hormonal and genetic makeup may also impact gender identification," (Mann, 2013).  It doesn't mean they are born with both a penis and a vagina.  It has to do with the difficulty of deciding which part they have due to the size of the private area.  The video gave some statistics on how many intersex births there are; an estimated 1 in every 1,500-2,000 births (Mann, 2013).  Now, I have heard of individuals who are born with this condition, but I never knew that there could possibly be another option used for gender identity when someone is born this way.  German lawmakers hope that this new law will take the pressure off parents to opt for surgery when a child is born with this condition.  German's third sex law gives parents the option to register their child as "intersex" at birth.

Germany's New 'Third Sex' Law video

Makes me want to ask the question....Can individuals with this condition, who are already grown adults, change their gender registration?  Or can it only be done at birth?  They should have the choice throughout their life span, I believe.  I have not personally known anyone with this condition but I believe if adults who were born with this were given the opportunity to change their gender they should be able to.  I feel like giving them the power to change their registration would be a sense of security, freedom, or choice.  Being confused about your own gender can be frustrating, scary, and just hard to deal with.  A person with this condition may have trouble with their definition of gender identity.  It may be difficult for them to pin point theirs and giving them one more option might help.  Gender identity is the belief a person has about his or her gender and that includes the psychological aspect of it (Erford & Hays, 2014).  I feel that if these individuals were given this new option that it would help them with their gender identity.  They might be more confident in themselves and would have some stress taken off their shoulders.  Although having more options can be good, it can be bad as well.  In this case I think it would be good.

Video:

Mann, J. (Producer). (2013, November 1). 'Third Sex' Law aims to reduce surgery [Web Video]. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2013/11/01/ctw-germany-third-gender-annand-saggar-intv.cnn.html 

Reference:

 Erford, B., & Hays, D. (2014). Developing multifulcutural counseling competence: A systems approach. (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.