Surgery on intersex babies

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Should it be banned?

>After four years in court, a first-of-its-kind legal battle over operating on “intersex” babies who are born with ambiguous genitalia has finally settled for $440,000, according to court records made public on Wednesday.

>The lawsuit was brought by Pam and Mark Crawford on behalf of their adopted son, M.C., against the Medical University of South Carolina, where M.C.’s genital surgery was performed when he was 16 months old. South Carolina Department of Social Services, which technically had custody of M.C. at the time, and Greenville Hospital System, who referred him to surgeons at MUSC, were also named in the suit. Greenville settled for $20,000 last year. (MUSC will pay $270,000 to a structured settlement company, which will purchase an annuity policy that will pay M.C. a total of $440,000 over the next 16 years.)

>The Crawfords alleged that M.C. — who was operated on to look like a girl, but grew up to identify as a boy — has incurred medical bills, pain and suffering, psychological damage, and impairment as a result of the surgery. MUSC “denied all claims of negligence and any liability for the alleged claims but agreed to this compromise of a vigorously disputed claim to avoid the costs of litigation,” according to the settlement.