(Im)moral bodies : intersex and auto/biographical documentary

In this paper I question the representation of and ethical responsibilities to young people with intersex (hermaphroditic) conditions in documentary film, and explore the creative practice challenges working with bodies with intersex, embedded in the production of a feature auto/biographical documentary entitled Orchids. Bodies with intersex conditions are often presented as abject, in need of ‘fixing’ during infancy and early childhood, undesirable, and incapable of desire. Seen through the lens of experience and memory, Orchids takes a personal coming-of-age narrative and reconfigures understandings of the (im)moral body in the light of its transformative potential. Just as practice research challenges the dominant hegemony of quantitative and qualitative research, my creative work positions itself as a nuanced performative piece, and through its distinctive distillation and celebration of a new form of discursive rupturing discovers the intersex voice.

Gender studies : Intersex by Catherine Harper

Intersex is the condition whereby an individual is born with biological features that are simultaneously perceived as male and female. Ranging from the ambiguous genitalia of the true 'hermaphrodite' to the 'mildly or internally intersexed', the condition may be as common as cleft palate. Like cleft palate, it is hidden and surgically altered, but for very different reasons. Intersex draws heavily on the personal testimony of intersexed individuals, their loved ones and medical carers. The impact of early sex-assignment surgery on an individual's later life is examined within the context of ethical and clinical questions. Harper challenges the conventional and radical 'treatment' of intersexuality through non-consensual infant sex-assignment surgery. In doing so, she exposes powerful myths, taboos and constructions of gender - the perfect phallus, a bi-polar model of gender and the infallibility of medical decisions. Handling sensitive material with care, this book deepens our understanding of a condition that has itself only been medically understood in recent years.

Honesty about adverse events - more honoured in the breach than in the observance

The medical board of Australia Code of conduct reminds doctors that" "When adverse events occur, you have a responsibility to be open and honest in your communication with your patient, to review what has occurred and to report appropriately." More honoured in the breach rather than the observence may or may not be correct. Faced with the English concerns and the Netherlands research, an evidence based assessment of compliance with the ethical duty to disclose adverse events is warranted.