Belgian supermodel and Alexander Wang muse, Hanne Gaby Odiele, has revealed that she is intersex, saying, “I was born intersex. This means, my body isn’t clearly male or female.”
She continued, “At this point of day and age, it should be perfectly alright to talk about this.” Intersex is a catchall term that describes a range of conditions in which an individual is born with reproductive anatomy that falls outside the typical definitions of male or female. This syndrome can be found in almost 2% of the US population, similar to the population that is born with red hair. Still, most people don’t know of their existence.
Odiele was born with the intersex trait AIS, or Androgyn Insensitivity Syndrome, where a woman is born with the typically male XY chromosomes. She was also born with internal, undescended testicles, which she had to surgically remove at the age of 10 because doctors told her parents that without the surgery, she might develop cancer and would not be able to develop as a normal, female girl.
The surgery was an incredibly traumatic and painful process for Odiele, in part because she was too young to process it. “I knew at one point after the surgery I could not have kids, I was not having my period. I knew something was wrong with me.”
She shared her intersex status and experience not only to “break the taboo,” but to speak out against these unnecessary, non-consensual and irreversible surgeries being performed on intersex children to make them conform to one anatomical gender. “I’m speaking out because it’s time this mistreatment comes to an end. It’s caused me way too much pain. I’m proud to support InterACT, as we fight to protect kids from suffering the same way I did.”
These surgeries can have devastating impacts on the lives of intersex people, with side effects that can include infertility, reduced sexual sensation, and lifelong dependence on hormone replacement medication. “I am proud to be intersex,” she says, “but very angry that these unnecessary surgeries are still happening.”
She’s right. In this era of “realisation”, perhaps it is time for us to rethink of our conventional ways and start developing new methods to tackle eyebrow-raising subjects like this. Parents usually only want to give what’s best for us and they too, are trying their hardest to make the most beneficial decision for us.
In this matter, perhaps the doctors and parents of those with intersex syndrome were never made aware of the consequences and how deeply traumatising it could be to the child’s development, so they opted with “unnecessary surgeries”, in the hope to make their bundle of joy’s life as normal as one usually longs for.
All in all, congratulations and thank you Hanne for sharing your intersex status with the world!
