Book contents
- Variations in Sex Development
- Reviews
- Variations in Sex Development
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- Section 1 Ordinary Lives
- Section 2 Medicalization and Resistance
- Section 3 Psychological Theories and Applications
- Section 4 Working Psychologically
- Chapter 9 Choosing “Normalizing” Genital Surgery
- Chapter 10 Caretakers’ Grief and Growth
- Chapter 11 Assigning Legal Gender
- Chapter 12 Disclosure
- Chapter 13 Sexual Intimacy
- Chapter 14 Childfreedom
- References
- Index
- Plate Section (PDF Only)
Chapter 11 - Assigning Legal Gender
from Section 4 - Working Psychologically
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 November 2022
- Variations in Sex Development
- Reviews
- Variations in Sex Development
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- Section 1 Ordinary Lives
- Section 2 Medicalization and Resistance
- Section 3 Psychological Theories and Applications
- Section 4 Working Psychologically
- Chapter 9 Choosing “Normalizing” Genital Surgery
- Chapter 10 Caretakers’ Grief and Growth
- Chapter 11 Assigning Legal Gender
- Chapter 12 Disclosure
- Chapter 13 Sexual Intimacy
- Chapter 14 Childfreedom
- References
- Index
- Plate Section (PDF Only)
Summary
Chapter 11 of the book reviews potential psychological contributions in the highly charged process of assigning legal gender to a newborn with genital variations. Although a number of psychological theories exist for understanding gender development, it is the brain gender framework that has been singularly privileged in intersex and DSD medicine. However, the decades of research cannot contribute to the certainty professionals and caretakers seek. Psychological care providers (PCPs) have other frameworks to draw from in order to work ethically and pragmatically with families. In the practice vignette, the author envisions how a highly skilled PCP in a high-functioning DSD team could work substantially to help caretakers to cope with uncertainty and minimize the need for psychosocially motivated medical interventions. In the vignette, the psychological care path is in position before medical investigations begin. It remains highly active long after the medical and legal processes are completed. Although the vignette is built around a child diagnosed with 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase-3 deficiency, the care principles are relevant to legal binary gender assignment for children born with a range of sex development variations.
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- Information
- Variations in Sex DevelopmentMedicine, Culture and Psychological Practice, pp. 188 - 205Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022