Born Between The Sexes

Congratulations! Is it a boy or a girl? That answer is not always simple. A genetic defect can cause a lot of confusion and fear for new parents. But they're not alone.

Nine News' Jennifer Ryan talked with two people who were born between the sexes.

One of them is Elijah Hobbs. Hobbs says, "I was kicked out of women's bathrooms a lot when I was younger."

At birth Hobbs appeared to be female and was raised as a girl, but as puberty she developed broad shoulders, a deep voice, and her breasts stopped developing.

"I was very depressed at puberty. People made fun of me a lot in locker rooms because my chest did not look like the other girls and they called me a 'boy-girl' and things like that. so it was pretty rough."

"It's not their fault, it's not their parents fault...it's nobody's fault...it's an accident of nature," Dr. Val Abbassi, MD an Endocrinologist says.

At least one in two-thousand children are born with a body that doesn't look either male or female. This makes intersex conditions just as common as Down's Syndrome or cystic fibrosis. The difference is intersex conditions are often kept secret.

Betsy Driver, who also has an intersex condition, says it's kept a secret because, "It's about sex...and we don?t talk about sex in our society."

"Well, their anatomy is a combination of both male and female genital structures," Dr. Abbassi said. Abbassi, an Endocrinologist at Georgetown, says there are a number of intersex conditions and genetic causes.

Most doctors aren't well versed on treatment or how to counsel parents. And while the condition usually poses no health problems surgery is typically recommended to make the child appear normal.

"They did surgery on me as an infant...I had a full cliterectomy. My medical records say it was amputated to the nib. and no one talked about it," Driver said.

Both Driver and Hobbs feel surgery is too risky and the child should have a say when they're older. In fact, Hobbs recently had his breast tissue and ovaries removed to begin returning back to his male gender. "I finally see someone I can be proud of. I'm not ashamed of my body anymore," he said.

There are support groups that offer education and hope for people dealing with an intersex condition. Click related video and links to learn more.