India: Shocking expose of “sex change” operation on baby girls

Baby girls are being 'converted' into boys in Indore (Madhya Pradesh) by the hundreds every year - at ages where they cannot give their consent for this life-changing operation.

This shocking, unprecedented trend, catering to the fetish for a son in India, has been reported from conservative Indore's well-known clinics and hospitals on children who are 1-5 years old. The process being used to 'produce' a male child from a female is known as genitoplasty. Each surgery costs Rs 1.5 lakh.

Moreover, these children are pumped with hormonal treatment as part of the sex change procedure that may be irreversible, The Hindustan Times reported. The high cost of marrying off a girl in the greedy dowry market, is the reason most couples dread getting a baby girl. There have been cases of divorce if a woman delivers a girl child. Baby girls are abandoned in dustbins and at times, killed at birth, without the mother’s consent.

The low cost of surgery and the relatively easy and unobtrusive way of getting it done in this city attracts parents from Delhi and Mumbai to get their child surgically 'corrected'. About 7-8% cases come from the metros, say doctors.

While genitoplasty is relatively common - it is used to correct genital abnormality in fully-grown patients - the procedure is allegedly being misused rampantly to promise parents a male child even though they have a female child. The parents press for these surgeries despite being told by doctors that the 'converted' male would be infertile.

Genitoplasty experts of Indore say each of them have turned 200 to 300 girls into 'boys' so far. If that's not bad enough, Indian law, which has encountered nothing like this so far, allows these surgeries by its silence and grey areas.

About seven paediatric surgeons from Indore - who are associated with top private and government hospitals - perform these surgeries. They say these operations are done on children whose internal organs do not match their external genitalia - most commonly, girls born with some internal male organs. There is no system to monitor that claim and is completely open to abuse. With no proper laws to protect rights of the child that young, the practice might have a larger social ramification, say medico-legal experts.

Meanwhile, taking cognizance of the newspaper report on sex change operations performed on baby girls, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has asked the State government to investigate the matter through a team of doctors known for their professional competencies and ethical standards.

The panel has sought a detailed report on the issue within 15 days including facts, figures and circumstances of cases, list of doctors/hospitals perpetuating the practice of genitoplasty and actions taken or contemplated against them.The measures taken by the State government at the State or district and local level, in terms of publicity and awareness campaigns, against the adverse effects of sex changing operations, female foeticide and infanticide have also been sought. It wants the government to inform the Commission the reasons behind the ineffectiveness of measures to create awareness against preference towards boys and discrimination against girls.

- Asian Tribune -