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Contact: Debbie Morton at Mercyhurst College, 814.824.2552
‘Intelligence’ plays key role in treatment of intersex patients
Physical gender is not always as simple as XX or XY: girl or boy.
When children are born with a sexual anatomy that doesn’t fit the typical definitions of male or female, medical professionals are confronted with a staggering challenge in diagnostic decision-making, said pediatric urologist Justine Schober, M.D., who specializes in cases of intersexuality.
Intersex patient outcome and satisfaction is the ultimate goal, but getting there requires assessment of data, research and intelligence from a multitude of sources and specialists. Assessing that intelligence and ascribing values – or what is called “levels of evidence” – is essential to decreasing errors in decision-making.
“Sometimes after studies with blood tests, x-rays and even laparoscopic looks at tissue in the abdomen and biopsy, it is very difficult to make a decision about whether to raise a child as a female or a male,” Schober said.
The clinical management of intersex patients is compounded by the fact that medical professionals are dealing with ambiguity of the genitals and of internal structures, not to mention the masculinization or feminization of the patient’s brain.
“We are dealing with information spanning the psychological, surgical and endocrinological and putting it altogether in a package,” Schober said. “That package, which is derived from so many studies and consensus among experts from all over the world, is how the patient ultimately is treated.”
Schober will discuss how the medical profession uses intelligence to make clinical decisions, focusing specifically on cases of intersexuality, at the upcoming Global Intelligence Forum: The Dungarvan Conference July 11-13 in Dungarvan, Ireland.
