Successful Sex Correction Surgery Performed At Uganda's Premier National Referral Hospital
Kampala, Uganda | THE
INDEPENDENT |
The Endocrinology clinic of Mulago Hospital has successfully operated an 11-year-old child to help her achieve her
dream of living as a boy.
The child was born a girl and raised as one. But according to
her parents, her organs started changing as she grew older. What was thought to
be a clitoris turned into a penis, a condition which, according to medics was
caused by the presence of high levels of male (testosterone) hormones in her
body.
Then known as Catherine, the child was linked to care, starting
a journey that will now see her live as a boy, for the rest of his life. Upon a
successful sex assignment and corrective surgery, Catherine will now be known
as Emma.
Dr Theresa Piloya, a pediatric endocrinologist who runs the
clinic says that 10 per cent of the cases she handles are of children battling
disorders of sex development who have been raised in different sex from theirs.
She said even as there’s no clear data on the incidence because
of stigma and other reasons, the treatment center is currently seeing 39
individuals with such disorders and 28 per cent of them are adolescents.
Dr Piloya said they have since 2012 has been collecting data of
those who report to Mulago Hospital with such disorders but have found that
other than reporting at birth or when still little children, many reports for
treatment at adolescence or adulthood when it’s more challenging to treat.
She, however, noted that challenges don’t stop at identifying
those that require correction procedures but also finding them psychologists to
help them in the transition is still a problem. For her, appropriate procedures
require them to do psychosocial counselling before surgery but most of the time
it’s not done.
While this is not happening, she says what is currently doable
is to train obstetricians and paediatricians to identify such cases early and
they are linked to care before it’s too late and very expensive.
She notes that if these disorders of sex development are
identified early and corrected, one will be able to function normally but it
gets challenging as one is transitioning to adulthood because fertility can be
compromised.
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| The Independent File Photo: Mulago National Referral Hospital |
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