The performance of "sexual adjustment" surgery on intersex infants and children and the consequent violation of sexual and reproductive rights

Abstract

Contextualization: The normalization of intersex infant and child bodies, through "sexual adjustment" surgeries with the consequent forced sterilization, compromises and removes the autonomy of intersex people to form their families, violating their sexual and reproductive rights, without having legal legitimacy and autonomy of will, by decision of family members and guidance of the medical team. Problem: The performance of surgeries, under the guidance of the medical team that is guided by Resolution 1664/2003 of the Federal Council of Medicine, Chicago Consensus of 2006, contrary to Resolution 2265/2019 of the Federal Council of Medicine. Objective: The general objective of the research is to investigate the normalization of the performance of "sexual adjustment" surgeries on intersex infants and children as a violation of their sexual and reproductive rights. Method: The research is predominantly bibliographic. The methodology adopted is deductive. Method: The research is predominantly bibliographic. The methodology adopted is deductive. Results: Studies by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights estimate that, between men and women, there are more than 40 types of intersex states, highlighting that between 0.05% and 1.7% of the world's population is born with intersex characteristics. This means that, if the highest percentage is taken into account, the number of intersex people in the world exceeds 130 million. On the other hand, researchers from the Brazilian Association of Intersex People carried out a study based on bibliographic reviews, in the PubMed, National Library of Medicine, Google Scholar and Scopus databases, published in 2024, which reached the number of one hundred and fifty intersex conditions, and it was possible to identify that within a world population of 8 billion people,  we would have a prevalence of 10.95% of intersex people. Conclusion: The research led to the conclusion that, from the perspective of the Violation of Sexual and Reproductive Rights, the performance of "sexual adequacy" procedures sterilizes intersex babies and children in a forced and compulsory way, and should be performed when the intersex person has decision-making capacity, for violating and compromising their sexual and reproductive rights.