This sensitive, revealing and purposeful doc traces the US practice of surgically assigning exclusively male or female gender to intersex children. That is, babies who were born with characteristics of both. It highlights the defining role of Professor John Money, paediatrician, psychologist and sexologist. Crucially, it focuses on three intersex activists who have passed beyond medical intervention and trauma.
Alicia Weigel, born with male XY chromosomes, testes, and a vagina, was brought up as a girl – after she was, as she says, castrated. Sean Saifa Wall, born with an unusually small penis, had his testes removed and officially became Suzanne, but always felt like a boy. River Gallo, who did not have testes at birth, was given prosthetic testes and testosterone and went unhappily to high school as a boy. All three campaign against medically-unnecessary surgery and hormonal interventions – at least until an intersex person ‘says who they are’. All are centred and confident.
