JEDDAH, 6 September 2006 — King Abdul Aziz University (KAAU) will establish an exclusive center for intersex corrective surgeries at the university’s hospital. The center will handle the medical, psychological and social sides of people born with organs of both sexes.
King Abdul Aziz University Hospital performed 325 corrective surgeries during the past 25 years free of charge. A surgery costs about SR100,000, KAAU Dean Osama Al-Taib told a press conference on Monday.
An intersex person is one who is born with genitalia or secondary sex characteristics determined as neither exclusively male nor female or which combine features of the male and female sexes.
Dr. Yassir Jamal, head of the medical team that performed the surgeries at KAUH, described the intersex case as “a complicated problem” and explained that there are four standards that differentiate a male baby from a female baby. They are the chromosomes (XY for males and XX for females), sex glands (two testicles in males and two ovaries in females), internal sex organs and external sex organs.
Disorders in any of these elements lead to intersex newborns, said Dr. Jamal. The doctor explained that the surgeons correct the condition after determining which traits are more prominent in each individual case.
“People who have undergone these surgeries are now leading a normal life just like any other person,” said Taib.
