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Taboo Intersex: between the genders

details

Production
2010, Germany
Original language
German
Running time
00:52:00
Genre
documentary
Topic
medicine, society
Directed by
Britta Dombrowe
Written by
Britta Dombrowe
Produced by
ZDF

One in 3,000 to 5,000 newborn children is neither male nor female. Officially, these "hermaphrodite", "androgynous" or "intersex" babies don't exist at all: the gender of a child has to be registered on its birth certificate in a matter of days, and there are only two boxes to check, male or female. Parents and doctors often bow to the social pressure to pick a gender.

"Corrective" gender surgery is often the method of choice – a practice that is now being reevaluated. This film recounts the fate of 4-year-old Inge, who was born of indeterminate gender. Despite the doctors' urging to "correct" their child quickly, the parents decided to leave Inge to decide later in life. A choice Christiane Völling (50) never had. When she was born with an enlarged clitoris, she was classed as male. Her uterus and ovaries were later removed without consultation, and she was injected with male hormones for years. Only 30 years after the operation did she discover she was robbed of her femininity, an all-too-frequent occurrence...

Pariscience

Selected at Pariscience 2011
See the showing : Saturday 08th October 2011 from 19h30 to 21h00