intersexuals

[D_Quintero]

What is the church’s position on intersexuals (hermaphrodites)?
I just starting learning about this in biology. I’m intrigued as to if the church has issued a moral statement on them. Thank you.

 

[coyote]

I am also interested in hearing what the Catholic Church has to say on this.

 

[tcay584]

D Quintero:

What is the church’s position on intersexuals (hermaphrodites)?
I just starting learning about this in biology. I’m intrigued as to if the church has issued a moral statement on them. Thank you.

I can’t see where a moral statement would ever have a reason to be made. It’d be like saying “So what does the Church say about blondes”. Biology’s biology.

 

[coyote]

tcay584:

I can’t see where a moral statement would ever have a reason to be made. It’d be like saying “So what does the Church say about blondes”. Biology’s biology.

I disagree. The curch has plenty to say in regards to homosexuality.
Intersexual persons have ambiguous genitalia. It has been the custom that parents of such children are coerced into having the child surgically “created” into a female, because it is easier. Hopfully this practice has ceased.

Are they to have intimate relationships/marriages or be required to remain celibate?
Are they to be coerced into choosing one gender over the other?

I think that even secularly there are questions and considerations. How can the Catholic Church not have any positon or offer guidance?

 

[tcay584]

coyote:

I disagree. The curch has plenty to say in regards to homosexuality.
Intersexual persons have ambiguous genitalia. It has been the custom that parents of such children are coerced into having the child surgically “created” into a female, because it is easier. Hopfully this practice has ceased.

Are they to have intimate relationships/marriages or be required to remain celibate?
Are they to be coerced into choosing one gender over the other?

I think that even secularly there are questions and considerations. How can the Catholic Church not have any positon or offer guidance?

I was trying to say that the Church probably does not have a moral opinion on the genetic makeup of a hermaphrodite. What they do with that equipment may be another issue. However,how can one be homosexual if one is not fully one sex or another? In the event that one’s not fully female and not fully male, one could not be homosexual either way.

 

[m134e5]

The Bible says that some are Eunuchs by birth- I believe hermaphrodites would fall into this category. If they have a Y chromosome, they are male- even if an extra X chromosome makes it so that they don’t look it, or they look like they’re both. If they do not have a Y chromosome (including just an X chromosome- not a second X chromosome), they are female.

 

[Brain]

yeah i would say biology is biology, you are what your genetics say you are, even if you dont look it.

I would say that if someone somehow has genitals inconsistant with their sex and its not correctable, or the person’s gentialia dont fuction (as it the marital act is not possible, whether it is fecund or not) celibacy is likely the best option.

 

[Forest-Pine]

There have been a few threads on this subject in the past IIRC. Have you tried a search on hermaphrodite, hermaphroditic, transexual, etc?

I have not seen any clearly defined guidelines on this subject so I have come to the personal conclusion that the church is quitely holding back and deferring first to the medical community to figure out what exactly is involved and handling individual situations on an as-needed basis.

Coyote:

Intersexual persons have ambiguous genitalia. It has been the custom that parents of such children are coerced into having the child surgically “created” into a female, because it is easier. Hopfully this practice has ceased.

Are they to have intimate relationships/marriages or be required to remain celibate?
Are they to be coerced into choosing one gender over the other?

I think that even secularly there are questions and considerations. How can the Catholic Church not have any positon or offer guidance?

I agree Coyote! It is my understanding that the current medical opinion is to not surgically altar a child unless and until the child is old enough to make a clear decision for one or the other or both. Many serious problems have arisen from choosing the most prominant external gender and forcing the child to be raised in that gender when in reality the genetic makeup is of the opposite gender and the medical community has created a transexual person.

I know I have seen discussion against transexuals undergoing sexual re-assignment surgery (though, admittedly, I do not know the church’s position) but if the person was born a girl (for instance) with a male part then altered to remove her female parts and thus making her into a transexual, would the same argument apply in reconstructive surgery? And if it wouldn’t, how does the argument stand in the first place?

It is a lot of grey area right now.