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What is ambiguous genitalia?

Ambiguous genitalia is a rare condition in which an infant’s external genitals don’t appear to be clearly either male or female. In a baby with ambiguous genitalia, the genitals may be incompletely developed or the baby may have characteristics of both sexes.

Also referred to as hermaphroditism, the condition entails having both male and female reproductive organs.  In other words an individual has both ovarian and testicular tissue.

Now the preferred term to describe this discrepancy between external genitalia and internal reproductive organs is by the term intersex.

Prevalence of ambiguous genitalia in Zimbabwe

It is estimated that about 1, 7 percent of babies are born with ambiguous genitalia in Zimbabwe and tests can be run at an early stage to determine the dominant sex for the baby and the surgery procedure can be safely done even when the baby is around seven or 12 months old.

Persecution of those born ambiguous genitalia

In some communities’ children born with ambiguous genitalia become victims of infanticide, rejection, neglect and are often confined home without school and someone disowned by their fathers.

Interventions so far Mpilo Central Hospital has established a register for patients to voluntarily register at the Public Relations Office and through the hospital, funds are sought for those who cannot pay for surgery. The hospital also conducts counselling sessions for the affected and their families before and during treatment and offers psycho – social support through the whole process.

 Link between ambiguous genitalia and homosexuality
Ambiguous genitalia is an abnormality from genetics which is part of anatomical structure which can be fixed by surgery.

On the other homosexuality is the quality or characteristic of being sexually attracted solely to people of one’s own sex which may occur once one has undergone surgery to determine if they are male or female.