Boston Children's Hospital will no longer perform two types of genital surgeries on intersex children if they are too young to meaningfully consent, reports The 19th News.
The hospital "will not perform clitoroplasty or vaginoplasty in patients who are too young to participate in a meaningful discussion of the implications of these surgeries, unless anatomical differences threaten the physical health of the child," a hospital spokesperson told The 19th.
Boston Children's decision could reflect a turning point, activists said. It comes on the heels of a similar move by Chicago-based Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital, which said in July it would be ending cosmetic surgies on intersex infants.
"Now that there are two hospitals, people in the community are going to feel more ability to pressure their hospitals to do the same," said Pidgeon Pagonis, co-founder of the Intersex Justice Project.