Inguinal Hernia

Inguinal Hernia

According to the Intersex Society of North America, “The total number of people whose bodies differ from standard male or female” at birth is estimated to be 1%.  That’s about 3,250,000 people in the US alone.  

Many of these babies are given surgical procedures shortly after birth to conform their genitalia to either male or female.  These procedures sometimes take place without the knowledge or consent of the parents. [poorly sourced]

I had an inguinal hernia operation as an infant.  It’s something I grew up knowing about myself. My mom made a big deal out of it.  This operation can be used to correct problems related to the descending of the testes.  Is this the reason I had the surgery? I have no idea, but it would explain some things. I’m too afraid to ask my mother about it.  Would she even know?

Ugh. Why am I looking for a medical reason to explain who I am?  Is my experience more legitimate if I can trace it to a surgical procedure I endured as an infant?  The closer I look for the “truth” of my gendered experience, the more it all appears malleable and unfixed.

I pity you because you don’t think that you’re real until a man in a lab coat signs a prescription pad.  And I can’t imagine what it must be like to have so little confidence in your own reality. -- Baltimore Maryland

Dearest Baltimore