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What Does It Mean to Be Intersex

Right from the Start There’s a moment at the beginning of every person’s existence when much of how they will be interacting with the world will be defined. It might be during an ultrasound while still in their mother’s womb. It could be at birth. But for all of us, it’s a moment that’s out of our control and that takes place long before we understand how much of our lives will be determined by that moment. This is the moment when a person is defined as either a boy or a girl. From then on, society has certain expectations of what we will be and do. Even the most open-minded parents will find themselves making assumptions about their child based on the gender they believe their child to be. It’s a bias everyone in our culture is taught from the beginning of our lives. That’s why it comes as a shock to people when someone doesn’t perfectly fit into that system, even though it happens much more often than people acknowledge.

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