Psychology

There are numerous issues which are taboo in the society we live in, and children born with ambiguous genitalia are no different. Not, perhaps to the society as much, but, to the parents they are born to. The first question asked from parents is about the gender of the child and the ambiguous gender most often proves to be a source of embarrassment for them, which is a natural psychological effect for parents who look forward to or picture a perfect child (Veronique 2007, p 81). The surrogate decision by the parents involves numerous factors the consideration of childs future, financial issues involved and the ethical conflicts.

The main question that arises is why the parents should be given the power to choose instead of the health care team Usually the parents are given the autonomy of decision as they are the ones who were related to the child before the situation. As each case differs medically, decision should be based initially on the medical complications that may arise in the future such as according to the United Kingdom Testicular Cancer Study Group, to prevent malignancy, testes may later need to be removed. Thus, the decision carefully needs to be made with the doctors concerned.

Uncertainty in the future of any surrogate decision, taken by the parents in affirmative or negative, would exist. Bringing up the child in question should be done accordingly, to share the decisions made and how the child is different from the normal male or female sex (Lynn 2000, p 171). If the decision is taken in an affirmative, the positive effects would be as follows Alleviation of social ridicule that the child may face in school and further in high school, confidence about its sexual identity and less financial concerns.

However, its not always about financial concern for the parents. Consideration of the childs feeling holds greater value the following issues do arise when it comes to the decision-making process Transferring agency of decision-making (that may differ from the parents once the child is an adult), affect on relationship with parents and the difference of decision of the child in adulthood (nothing should be done surgically that would be unalterable in future micro-penises should be left in place and ovaries and uterus should not be removed).

If the decision that is taken is against the sex-reassignment procedure at birth, then the parents should take particular care in bringing up the child as such that heshe is able to take a well thought decision whether to have the operation, when ready for it or not to go through the procedure at all. The major advantage is the positive relationship that will be built between the parents and the child as heshe will like the fact that the decision was left for himher to be made instead of being already made for him (John 2000, p 101).

In between the array of factors that is needed to be considered by the parents when making a decision, once of the major factors involved is the cost involved. If the surgery is performed at birth or during infancy then it is justified by the doctors as correction of a necessary birth defect. As an infant, heshe would not need a psychological treatment as well and the medical costs involved would be minimal. When and if left to the future, there would be numerous modus operandi involved under the cosmetic procedure. Moreover, the continuous testosterone injections up to the point of operation and post-operative psychological treatment that is essential for the patient involves major finances, which is not generally covered by insurances due to scarce medical funds.

The major ethical issue that is considered, if the decision is taken in an affirmative, is whether the parents are doing so in order to satisfy their picture of a perfect child that is the child being either a girl or a boy and not respecting the individuality of the child. To prevent this, proper counseling should be given to parents to increase the awareness, provide those further details - the pros and cons of any decision taken and in each case the effect of the decision upon the childs future (Laurie 2009, p 290).

Complete research should be done, related to all the possibilities of gender discrepancies of a child, by the couple wishing to have a child. In consideration of the above facts and recommendations, we notice that sex reassignment operations provide the parents with one more option to choose from. Any decision that maybe adopted would have its positives and negative effects in the future. The main concern is how the parents would bring up the child and establish the trust and explain to the child, the wisdom of the decision taken in light of all the facts involved.