| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
|
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Black was born a hermaphrodite -- meaning she had both male and female sex organs. A doctor successfully advocated surgery to make the infant a boy. Now the Edmonton transsexual is about to go under the surgeon's knife again, this time to become a woman. "What's being done, I want in the worst way," said Black, 46, who lives and dresses as a woman and asks to be referred to as "she." It was only six years ago the computer technician discovered she'd been born a hermaphrodite. At that time, Marsha was Marshall and had all medical records pulled to apply for a job. Reading through scant medical records, Black learned of the surgery done at eight months of age. Details of the surgery are sketchy, but Black's been told female organs were removed. It helped the former flight instructor understand the sexual orientation confusion and cross-dressing that began in junior high. "It kind of explained a few things, the way I am, the way I feel. For 20 years I didn't have that," said Black, who was interviewed while clad in a fuchsia Spandex tank top, short black skirt and sandals. She harbours no ill feelings toward her parents for making what they thought was the best decision. Babies born with ambiguous genitalia occur as frequently as one in every 2,000 births, said Barbara Neilson, a social worker for Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children. Such babies undergo intensive testing to determine gender. Depending on the parents' wishes, treatment may include surgery and hormone medication. Black doesn't dwell on the past, but she wonders what life would be like if the operation had gone differently. "Most hermaphrodites can never have children. It depends on the degree and how things are done and when it's dealt with. Maybe I could have been a happily married woman with a couple of kids to call my own. I love kids."
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.gif){kind=small}
