The Brown & White

The controversial practices of sexual assignment and re-assignment were addressed by Matt Malouf, a Lehigh doctoral student in Counseling Psychology, in a talk held Monday in the Multicultural Center.

The Intersex Society of North America defines intersex as a general term used for a variety of conditions in which a person is born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn't seem to fit the typical definitions of female or male.

Malouf completed his undergraduate studies at Johns Hopkins University, where the groundwork for disorders of sex development was first developed.

He has since focused his studies on the quality of life and its relation to mental health.

Malouf, a Ph. D. student with a masters of Education in Counseling and Human Services, said it's important to know that it's not as simple of an issue as some make it out to be.

Disorders of sex development are still rare, which may explain why issues surrounding such disorders are unknown to many, he said.

Malouf focused on the effects of advocacy on standards of sexual assignment practices. He said often people who aren't in touch with the larger issues of sexuality don't know too much about this topic.

"Other sexual identities, such as lesbian and gay, are incorporated into people's lives, but intersexuality may or may not be relevant to someone's identity," Malouf said.

He also discussed intersexuality as a socially constructed identity.

Confusion may arise between sexual assignments for children and sexual re-assignments for adults.

Malouf said some research suggested 95 percent of adult patients who underwent surgery for sexual reassignment were happy with the end result. But other research suggests that the psychological functioning of these people had not improved.

This is what led to Hopkins' clinic ending the practice of sexual re-assignment.

Hopkins still performs sex assignment surgery for infants diagnosed with a disorder of sex development.

Malouf said there's been a long history of politicizing the issues surrounding disorders of sex development, and some have taken advantage of those diagnosed.

According to Malouf, disorders characterized by sex development range from being unnoticeable, to sometimes life threatening if not properly treated.

The treatment for such disorders includes genital surgery, the removal of reproductive organs, medical treatment and/or hormonal treatment, but Malouf said that what's often missing is counseling for families, children and adults.

Since there are a limited number of cases, it's hard to conduct efficient experiments that provide clear answers regarding the practices of sex assignment. Part of the problem is that issues surrounding intersexuality are branded as shameful and often go unaddressed, said Malouf.

He emphasized the importance of the role of counselors and said our society today is more open. Because of this, it's not necessary to conform to pressures of exploiting affected individuals.

Ricky Hernandez, '11, said education is the most powerful tool in raising awareness.

"I think this issue is important because in LGBTQIA, 'I' [Intersex] is the most ambiguous. It's important to raise awareness," Hernandez said.