Science Queeries
Around 1.7% of babies born in Australia have innate variations in sex characteristics. That’s roughly one in 60 babies.
For decades…and to this day, intersex people have been treated as medical problems that need solving. Doctors make decisions about their bodies – often surgical decisions – before they are old enough to consent.
Variations in sex characteristics exist on a spectrum, just like height or any other trait. Yet intersex people face unnecessary surgeries, secrecy, shame, and a medical system that treated their bodies as “other”. The World Health Organisation still lists innate variations of sex characteristics as medical conditions. But being intersex isn’t a pathology. It’s a natural variation.
On Science Queeries, we’re talking about depathologisation; about recognising intersex as a natural part of human diversity, not a disease. Our guest is Paul Byrne-Moroney from The I in Us, the only show for intersex people by intersex people. He’s here to help us understand what it means to be intersex and why depathologisation matters.
Last month, Victoria passed legislation that protects intersex children from unnecessary, irreversible medical procedures. It’s a landmark moment. And it’s time we all understood why.
Originally aired 3rd March, 2026.
The post Innately You: Depathologising Being Intersex appeared first on Science Queeries.