intersex
Intersex Mapping Study
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Personal Stories

In this section, we provide links to the personal stories some intersex activists have shared.  We may have already shared some of these links with you through our Twitter feed, but in case you didn't see them there, we're providing them here.  These are powerful and inspirational stories that document the complex, and often difficult, realities that intersex people must navigate in their daily lives.

 

 

  • In 2011, Tony Briffa became the world's first openly intersex Mayor of Hobsons Bay, Australia.  This cartoon animation was part of the 'Your Story' campaign launched by the National Institute for Challenging Homophobia Education (NICHE). The aim of the campaign was to collect 'everyday' stories representing life for those in the LGBTQI community in Australia.  Tony's story represents the 'I'. 

 

  • Lavelle's story offers an insight into how being intersex can limit one's life opportunities in the field of work and employment when her application to join the US Armed Forces was disqualified.  In her own words "Intersex: Disqualified For How I Was Born"

 

  • Esther Morris Leidolf is intersex.  She was 43 years old before she had a name and "real diagnosis" of Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH).  It is also sometimes called Müllerian Agenesis or Vaginal Agenesis. This means that some women are born with a partial or absent reproductive system.  MRKH is diverse in itself, some women may be born without a uterus, others may be born without a cervix.  It's not that uncommon either - it affects approximately 1 in 4,500 - 5000 female births (Fontana et al., 2016).  Esther is an activist, a medical sociologist based in the US, author, and founder of the MRKH organisation www.mrkh.org  On that website, links are provided to three important pieces of work that she has written 

The Missing Vagina Monologues and Beyond

The Self I Will never Know

Intersex Examines Medicine

Esther also provides a link to a short, five-minute video in which she, along with other women from around the world, share their personal story of what it means to have MRKH.  The video The Global MRKH Footprint by Alison Hensley - another woman with MRKH - is

"A digital story, exposing the experiences of seven women across the globe as they tell their unique and complex story of the MRKH diagnosis. Mayer–Rokitansky–Küster–Hauser syndrome effects 1 in 5000 females, resulting in the under-development or absence of the reproductive tract. MRKH as we know it is unbiased, uncompromising and complex. MRKH has a global footprint – it spans to corners of the globe that are both accepting and unforgiving. MRKH rattles the societal norms relating to the abrupt interruptions of sexual development and infertility. This short film attempts to debunk the myths, challenge the stigma's and trigger the movement to normalise differences." 

 

  • XOXY - A Memoir is a book written by intersex activist Kimberly Zieselman.  Check out Kimberly's own website xoxykz.com for rave reviews about her book.