LSAP MP Marc Angel had inquired about the situation of people with intersex conditions in Luxembourg.
Intersex conditions collectively refer to variety of conditions that lead to atypical development of physical sex characteristics. In other words, the individuals in question are born with sex characteristics (including genitals, gonads and chromosome patterns) that do not fit typical binary notions of male and female.
The association Intersex & Transgender Luxembourg estimates that approximately 10,000 intersex individuals live in Luxembourg - but no reliable statistics are available.
The Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg (CHL) did, however, contribute to a Belgian-Luxembourgish register on people displaying atypical sexual development. It is about this register that Marc Angel hoped to find out more. In his reply, Etienne Schneider specified that data had been collected between 2010 and 2019. The study was concluded early 2019 and it followed 10 people with atypical sexual development.
The participants were selected based on clinical, hormonal, or genetic criteria. The parents of underage participants gave their consent for the collection of data. Schneider added that the data would be kept for 50 years and stressed that the participants could not only access the files at any given moment but also request them to be deleted. A definite register on individuals with atypical sexual development could help politicians to adapt and reform health politics, Schneider said.
Already in 2018, former Minister of Health Lydia Mutsch explained that the new hospital law forced Luxembourg’s hospitals to keep record on how many babies with intersex conditions are born.
Despite decades of controversy, doctors continue to perform gender “normalising” operations on intersex babies. Deemed medically unnecessary by many, these surgeries can often inflict permanent physical and psychological harm. The current government’s coalition programme foresees a ban on such operations. Officials will also debate the official introduction of a third gender option.
