The Irrelevance of Data to the Ethics of Intersex Surgery

In this article we argue that early infant genital surgery violates children’s rights against the irreversible physical shaping of their sexual and reproductive identity. In making this case, we reject what has been the guiding assumption of the debate over early surgery, namely that the welfare of the child patient is paramount. One result of this assumption has been an interest in data that would support or refute claims about the relationship between early surgery and child welfare. Our argument, which emphasizes children’s rights, is that such data are irrelevant to the ethics of these surgical interventions.