The website of Accord Alliance (http://accordalliance.org) is an invaluable resource for families and clinicians dealing with DSD. It provides helpful information on DSD as well as portals to helpful material at other websites. At Accord Alliance's site, you'll also find such useful material as a list of Quality Care Indicators for DSD, links to important articles in the medical literature, and essays by people working to improve the care of families with DSD. Accord Alliance publishes and distributes this handbook as well as the companion Clinical Guidelines (available at http://dsdguidelines.org).

The American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists (AASECT, http://www.aasect.org) is an organization that certifies professionals in areas of sex counseling, education, and therapy. Some parents of children born with DSD say that professional assistance from a sex therapist, for example, has helped at various times in their children’s development. This website hosts an online referral network that can help you locate a certified sex therapist in your geographic area.

The American Academy of Pediatrics website (http://www.aap.org) is an excellent source for finding out about parenting and child development. It also provides information about safety concerns (like car seats and water safety), recommends books about parenting, and has a search system called “find a pediatrician” which will help you find pediatric specialists (like pediatric endocrinologists and child psychiatrists). The American Academy policy about parents’ rights to informed consent and children’s participation in medical decision-making can be found at http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/pediatrics;95/2/314. The paper copy of this article appears in the journal Pediatrics, volume 95, issue 2, pp. 314-317 (Feb. 1, 1995).