About this website

Thisisintersex.org is a publication of the NNID Foundation. The website is about sex diversity in general and intersex in particular. 1 NNID Foundation prefers to use the word intersex because lawyers, social scientists and politicians also use this word. Health professionals and patient organizations often use other names for the same group of people: disorders of sex development, differences of sex development, sex variations, etc.

Thisisintersex.org is objective but not without vision. It is a freely accessible website with an independent editorial board. We share accurate, understandable and attractive information that is scientifically sound, if possible. Thisisintersex.org makes scientifically-based information available to individuals and organizations who are professionally involved with sex diversity.

The website operates under an editorial charter.

About NNID

Logo NNIDFoundation NNID (NNID, Netherlands organization for sex diversity) was established on 8 July 2013 with the aim:

To promote the emancipation of intersex people.
To promote the visibility of these people in society.
To represent the (social) interests of these people.
To have a human rights perspective in which depathologization plays an important role.

Strictly speaking, intersex is not a medical problem. After all, intersex people are not in pain because they are intersex, nor can being intersex be ‘cured’ or is it dangerous for your health. But intersex is in many cases accompanied by problems that require proper medical and/or psychosocial care. Depathologization is therefore not the same as cutting off contact with doctors. On the contrary. Depathologization focuses on ending the unnecessary ‘normalizing’ medical interventions that intersex people are often confronted with, while at the same time working to improve the care that is necessary.

The existing depathologization intersex people have to deal with is one of the main reasons why the rights of intersex people deserve attention. Although intersex people have always existed, it was less than a century ago that doctors provided ‘solutions’ for what they thought society couldn’t or wouldn’t accept. During World War II, doctors had gained experience in treating and repairing damaged body parts through skin grafting. Also, the techniques to anaesthetize people became less risky, and it even became possible to put children under anaesthesia. Thus, in the 1950s, intersex people became operable and thus pathologized. Therefore, the call to depathologize is not something new – we are asking society to accept intersex as a natural variation just like they had before.

More information

You can read more on intersex on the following pages: