4488 Photo for representation only. - PTI file photo
The order of the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights asking the state government to ban medically unnecessary sex change surgeries on intersex infants and ensure their bodily integrity is a reminder of the physical and psychological impairment that the quest for gender identity can lead to. In most cases, the children are too young to give their view, which only increases the risk to their physical and mental integrity. Rights activists have said there are instances where intersex people were treated as disabled and the gender reassignment interventions proved to be irreversible, resulting in long-term complications and disability which can cause wastage of human life. It has also been claimed that most of these surgeries are conducted without prior approval.