(Children's Minnesota Clinical Ethics Program, 2021) Reis, Elizabeth; Reis-Dennis, Samuel
In this article we argue that early infant genital surgery violates
children’s rights against the irreversible physical shaping of
their sexual and reproductive identity. In making this case, we reject
what has been the guiding assumption of the debate over
early surgery, namely that the welfare of the child patient is paramount.
One result of this assumption has been an interest in data
that would support or refute claims about the relationship between
early surgery and child welfare. Our argument, which emphasizes
children’s rights, is that such data are irrelevant to the ethics of
these surgical interventions.
