Honoring Intersex Activist Cheryl Chase
Filed by: Serena Freewomyn
March 13, 2008 1:28 PM
http://www.bilerico.com/2008/03/womens_history_month_cheryl_chase.phpImagine you're a parent and your child is born with "ambiguous" genitals and the doctors tell you that you have to make a choice. Your child must undergo surgery to "correct" the genitals so that you can check off male or female on the birth certificate and take the baby home. What would you do?
This is what happened to Cheryl Chase's parents when she was born in 1956. Her parents initially named her Brian and raised her as a boy, but at 18 months old they discovered she had ovaries and a uterus and a clitoridectomy was performed. Her parents changed her name, moved to a new town and started raising her as a girl.