Medical Science Research Bulletin

Introduction

Intersex is a group of individuals whose sexual characteristics do not correspond to the typical and binary norms of male or female. It is estimated that approximately one person in 2000 is intersex. Worldwide, the proportion of births of intersex children is between 0.05 and 4%. Social life imposes certain choices, such as the choice of male or female sex, which is why so many families end up having their intersex children operated on in order to assign them a single sexand thus respect the norms of sexual life. The aim of this study is to describe a holistic care for the case of intersex.

Patient presentation

This study concerns a 14-year-old intersex, the only child in the family, who received a home consultation as part of Family Medicine to determine his biological sex.

Conclusion

This study has allowed us to know in depth intersexuality as a type among sexual minorities, with very clear knowledge on its biopsychosocial management.

Sexual minorities, Intersex, Family Medicine, Homosexual, bisexual, transgender

1. Amnesty. What does it mean to be intersex or intersexed?https://www.amnesty.fr/focus/le-i-de-lgbti, Consulter le 14/10/2024 
2. Cynthiakraus. ’’Under-virilized boys’’ and ’’girls raised as boys’’. The new journal of social sciences. p.107-142. https://doi.org/10.4000/socio.2931
3. Marie Conquy. Being ‘’intersexed’’, what does it mean? https://www.caminteresse.fr/societe/etre-intersexue-qu-est-ce-que-ça-veut-dire-54560/
4. Free and Equal. Raising awareness of intersexuality. https://www.unfe.org/en/what-we-do/our-campaigns/intersex-awareness accessed 04/09/2024 
5. Carrie L. Hull and Anne Fausto-Sterling, “lettertothe Editor”, American Journal of Humanbiology, vol.15, n°1, 2003, p.112-116. doi: 10.1002/Ajhb.10122
6. Melanie Blackless, Anthony charuvastra, amandaderryck, annefausto-sterling, karllanzanne and Ellen lee, 2000, “Howsexuallydimorphicarewe?Review and synthesis”. in American Journal of HumanBiology, 12, p.151-166 
7. Patricia Huon. In South Africa, a step towards the recognition of intersex. https://www.liberation.fr/international/afrique/en-afrique-du-sud-un-pas-vers-la-reconnaissance-de-lintersexuation-20210305-sierzpaskbtq513frahpqptspm/ , Consulted on 09/13/2024
8. Encyclopedia universalis. Intersexuality. https://www.universalis.fr/encyclopedie/intersexualite/
9. Pierre Jouannet. Development and function of the genitals. Does my body have a sex? (2015), pages 64 to 77. https://doi.org/10.3917/dec.peyre.2015.01.0064
10. Glyo, Organisation Intersex International Europ (OII Europe) and EPA. Supporting your intersex child, 2018. https://oiieurope.org/soutenir-son-enfant-intersexe/
11. National Geographic. How Sciences ishelping us understandgender. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/01/how-science-helps-us-understand-gender-identity/
12. Janik Bastien charlebois, « Femmes intersexes », sus Erudit, Volume 27, Issue 1, 2014, pp. 237–2 55 DOI https://doi.org/10.7202/1025425ar
13. L. Bereni, S. Chauvin, A. Jaunait and A. Revillard (2008). Sex assignment surgery and intersex people. Introduction to Gender Studies: Handbook of gender studies p.26
14. Anne Fausto-Sterling. The Five Sexes Revisited: Sex Differences Will Challenge Medical Values ​​and Social Norms. The Sciences. https://web.archive.org/web/20040719130635/http://bms.brown.edu/faculty/f/afs/5sexesrevprnt.pdf
15. Bargy, F., Laude, F., Barbet, J.P. et al. Anatomy of Intersex Conditions. Suryradiol Anat 11 (Suppl.2), 7-8 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF0209881
16. Bivea. Anatomy of Intersex People. https://www.bivea.fr/861-anatomie-personne-intersexuée, accessed 08/09/2024
17. BLACKLESS, Melanie, et al., 2000 “How Sexually Dimorphic Are We?” Review and Synthesis », American Journal of HumanBiology, 12, 2: 151-166.
18. Éléna Pougin. In the Assembly, an amendment to protect intersex children. Le Monde. https://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2021/01/15/un-amendement-pour-proteger-les-enfants-intersexes_6066419_823448.html
19. Republique Francaise. Official Journal. Order of November 15, 2022 establishing the rules of good practice for the care of children with variations in genital development in application of Article L. 2131-6 of the Public Health Code. https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/eli/arrete/2022/11/15/SPRP2232078A/jo/texte JORF n°0266 of November 17, 2022 n° 42
20. High Authority of Health. Opinion n°2022.0015/AC/SBP-UDCAP of March 10, 2022 of the college of the High Authority of Health relating to the draft decree establishing the rules of good practice for the care of children with variations in genital development in application of article L.2131-6 of the Health Code public.https://www.has-sante.fr/jcms/p_3324338/fr/avis-n2022-0015/ac/sbp-udcap-du-10-mars-2022-du-college-de-la-haute-autorite-de-sante-portant-sur-le-projet-d-arrête-fixant-les-rules-de-bonne-pratiques-de-prise-en-traitant-des-priseants-des-variations-du-developpement-genital-en-application-de-l-article-l-2131-6-du-code-de-la-sante-publique
21. Sarah ABRAMOWICZ. Clitoral reconstruction after excision: state of the art. https://www.gynecologie-pratique.com/journal/article/007024-reconstruction-clitoridienne-apres-excision-etat-lart
22. C. Grapin-Dagorno. Surgical treatment of genital malformations in children - legal contextSurgical treatment of congenital malformations of the genital organs in children - legal issues. Bulletin of the National Academy of Medicine. Volume 207, number 1, 2023, pages 97-105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.banm.2022.10.014
23. Sara Hormatallah. Technical update on surgery for intersexual conditions http://wd.fmpm.uca.ma/biblio/theses/annee-htm/FT/2018/these152-18.pdf
24. Karen Lin-Su, Maria I. New. Ambiguous genitalia in the newborn. In Avery's Diseases of the Newborn (ninth edition), 2012. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-1-4377-0134-0.10092-7
25. Mark Davenport, James D. Geiger, Nigel J. Hall, Steven S. Rothenberg, Operative Pediatric Surgery, 2020. Surgical treatment of disorders of sexual development. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781351250801
26. Joseph S. Sanfilippo, Eduardo Lara-Torre, Veronica Gomez-Lobo. Variation in sexual differentiation. Textbook of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology Second Edition, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781315147659.
27. J Kellogg Parsons, E James Wright, The Brady Urology Manual, 2019. Developmental anomalies of the genital organs: intersexuality, hypospadias and cryptorchidism. https://doi.org/10.1201/9780429194993
28. Julie Franc-Guimond; Josée Lamarche, Sophie Laurence and Marie-Christine Rioux. Hypospadias and Chordee Surgery Postoperative Care. https://www.chusj.org/getmedia/062f1002-267c-478f-9c0e-6bbdfa62d428/depliant_F-4740_chirurgie-hypospadias-et-chordee_fr.pdf.aspx?ext=.pdf
29. Ilana Lowy. Intersex and Transsexualities: Medical Technologies and the Separation of Biological Sex from Social Sex. https://shs.cairn.info/revue-cahiers-du-genre-2003-1-page-81?lang=fr
30. Morgan Carpenter. Intersex: Stories and Statistics from Australia. https://ihra.org.au/30313/intersex-stories-statistics-australia/
31. Blackless, Melanie, et al. (2000). How Sexually Dimorphic Are We? Review and Synthesis”, American Journal of Human Biology, 12, 2: 151-166