CRVS
CRVS stands for Civil Registration and Vital Statistics. In most countries, a civil registration system is used to record statistics on vital events, such as births, deaths, marriages, divorces and fetal deaths. This government administrative system creates a permanent record of each event. A well-functioning CRVS system aims to: Source
Disorder of Sex Development (DSD)
Coined in a 2006 medical consensus statement published in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The doctors who introduced it argued that “intersex” and older terms were “particularly controversial.” Many intersex adults have pushed back ever since, citing the obvious problem: disorder pathologizes a natural variation. Some have softened the term by replacing […]
Gender Expression
Gender expression is the way in which a person outwardly presents their gender identity. It is typically manifested through name and pronouns– for example, in Anglophone contexts, ‘she/her’ and ‘he/him’, as well as ‘they/them’, which some gender-fluid or non-binary people prefer. It is also manifested in the way a person chooses to dress, speak or […]
Gender Identity
Gender identity is a person’s deeply felt internal and individual experience of gender, which may or may not correspond with the sex assigned at birth. It includes the personal sense of the body, which may involve – if freely chosen –modification of bodily appearance or function by medical, surgical, or other means. Gender identity exists […]
Genital Autonomy
Genital autonomy is a unified principle that children should be protected from nonvoluntary genital cutting that is not medically necessary. The term Genital Cutting/Genital Mutilation encompasses all harmful medical practices, including surgical, hormonal, and other medical treatments to irreversibly modify sex characteristics of intersex persons for non-vital, cosmetic reasons. Source
Hermaphrodite
An outdated and often offensive term for a person with both male and female sex organs. The term is not used by the medical community and is considered stigmatizing by most intersex people. The correct and respectful term is “intersex.” The term hermaphrodite derives from the Latin: hermaphroditus, from Ancient Greek: ἑρμαφρόδιτος, which derives from […]
Intersex
Intersex is a general term used for a variety of conditions in which a person is born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn’t seem to fit the typical definitions of female or male. For example, a person might be born appearing to be female on the outside, but having mostly male-typical anatomy on […]
Intersex Genital Mutilation (IGM)
Intersex Genital Mutilation (IGM) is an intervention on a healthy intersex body. It is performed when, according to societal and medical notions, a person’s external genitals do not look “normal” enough to pass as “male” or “female” genitals. Performing IGM was not always the default practice. Before the middle of the twentieth century, as a 2016 […]
Intersex-affirming healthcare
Intersex-affirming healthcare prioritizes patient autonomy, bodily integrity, and informed consent, opposing non-consensual or medically unnecessary genital surgeries on children. Source
Jacobs Syndrome (XYY Syndrome or 47XYY)
People with Jacobs Syndrome develop with an extra Y chromosome. They may not have any obvious physical variations as a result, but might be taller than usual or have other identifiable differences unrelated to sex characteristics. Some individuals with Jacobs Syndrome may also have a smaller-than-typical penis or scrotum, hypospadias, and/or undescended testicles. Source