Ok so I can’t go into how or why but I recently learned about cryptorchidism and orchiopexy, which is the procedure that is done to patients with it, usually as infants. Extremely basic research (I do not work in healthcare so I don’t know shit) seems to tell me that this procedure reduces risk of certain conditions in the future. But it still feels kinda weird to think about.
Ig my question is, how is IGM differentiated from a procedure that might actually be beneficial to an intersex infant? Because it seems like there might be a situation where surgical treatment for an intersex patient could be medically beneficial (there are loads of variations out there, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility is what I mean), but I can also see “reduced risk of xyz” as a kind of excuse if that makes sense. Would something like orchiopexy be considered IGM? (Assuming that cryptorchidism is intersex which maybe it isn’t)
When it comes to those things, there has to be proof that the surgery is for their health and for their health only, but a lot of doctors either lie or exaggerate.
As for as orchiopexy, while I don't know much, that is a health based procedure that is fine to perform since it will negatively impact the child's life, but anything beyond descending the testicle into the scrotum, I would consider to be IGM.
Something I know a little bit more about is the different types of cloacas. For some cases, having one hole for all material to come out of can cause infections and diseases, so at that point it is okay to perform a surgery to separate the urethra (I believe?) from the cloaca. Where it goes too far is when they try to construct a vulva around the cloaca, or separate all of the paths that did not need to be separated. That is IGM.
I would appreciate more comments from those who know more about this than me though!
All in all, TL; Dr: surgeries performed for ACTUAL health benefits are fine, but it can go too far and it often does go too far, and that is IGM.
