Chicago hospital apologizes for performing genital surgery on intersex infants: ‘Approach was harmful and wrong’

A children’s hospital in Chicago has apologized for performing genital surgery on infants, becoming the nation’s first major hospital to publicly declare that the procedure is “harmful and wrong.” In a statement released Tuesday by the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, its CEO and medial staff recognized the “painful history” associated with cosmetic surgeries on infants who are born with intersex traits “to make genitalia appear more typically male or female.” The procedure, which has been deemed a form of “torture” by the United Nations, has been condemned by a number of human rights organizations, including the Human Rights Watch, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology, and GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality.