+Frank B. Subscriber² Posted November 1, 2013 Subscriber² Share Posted November 1, 2013 Germany to allow 'indeterminate' gender at birth Germany is to become Europe's first country to allow babies with characteristics of both sexes to be registered as neither male nor female. Parents will be allowed to leave the gender blank on birth certificates, in effect creating a new category of "indeterminate sex". The move is aimed at removing pressure on parents to make quick decisions on sex assignment surgery for newborns. As many as one in 2,000 people have characteristics of both sexes. 'Bruised and scarred' They are known as "intersex" people because they have a mixture of male and female chromosomes or even genitalia which have characteristics of both genders. The intense difficulty for parents is often that a gender has to be chosen very quickly so that the new child can be registered with the authorities, the BBC's Steve Evans in Berlin reports. Sometimes surgery is done on the baby to turn its physical characteristics as far as possible in one direction or the other, our correspondent says. The law in Germany has been following a review of cases which revealed great unhappiness. In one case, a person with no clear gender-defining genitalia was subjected to surgery. The person said many years later: "I am neither a man nor a woman. I will remain the patchwork created by doctors, bruised and scarred." German passports, which currently list the holder's sex as M for male or F for female, will soon have a third designation, X, for intersex holders, according to the interior ministry. It remains unclear what impact the change will have on marriage and partnership laws in Germany. Current laws define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, and civil partnerships are reserved for same-sex couples. Source: BBC News Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 This makes sense as there are a good number of "intersex" children born every year, between 0.1% - 0.2% of births. Doesn't sound like much until you run the numbers. Tha Bloo Monkee 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Growled Member Posted November 2, 2013 Member Share Posted November 2, 2013 This makes sense as there are a good number of "intersex" children born every year, between 0.1% - 0.2% of births. Doesn't sound like much until you run the numbers. Has it always been that many or are we seeing more now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 More are being diagnosed now than 20-30 years ago, but a big part of that is improved diagnostics, awareness and a reduction in parental denial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torolol Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 so, when will English vocabulary are to accommodates this 'indeterminate'? he / she / it? using "it" are kinda insulting toward human being ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiagosilva29 Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO/IEC_5218 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
123456789A Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 so, when will English vocabulary are to accommodates this 'indeterminate'? he / she / it? using "it" are kinda insulting toward human being ... They'll make a new word, but whatever they call them, they're going to get picked on a lot in school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tha Bloo Monkee Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 so, when will English vocabulary are to accommodates this 'indeterminate'? he / she / it? using "it" are kinda insulting toward human being ... Singular "they". There are also invented pronouns but they aren't common. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender-specific_and_gender-neutral_pronouns Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Decebalvs Rex Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 Indeterminate restrooms please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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