This purpose of this page is to provide visitors with the opportunity to learn about the wide range of perspectives regarding optimal care in DSD. Do not look for agreement across all sources: some viewpoints are clearly in conflict with one another. However, consistent with our mission, Accord Alliance seeks to be the “go-to” organization for information and resources for ALL stakeholders.
Accord Alliance does not endorse any particular position regarding specific clinical practices beyond supporting the principles described in the DSD Consensus Statement¹. One way that we hope to achieve “better care, better outcomes, and better lives” for people living with a DSD — and their families — is by providing all relevant information in one location.
Please periodically return to this page for updates.
¹Lee, P. A., C. P. Houk, S. F. Ahmed, I. A. Hughes and in collaboration with the participants in the International Consensus Conference on Intersex organized by the Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society and the European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology. 2006. “Consensus Statement on Management of Intersex Disorders.” Pediatrics 118(2):e488-500. doi: 10.1542/peds.2006-0738.
Opinion – Human Rights and Other Organizations
2013 – United Nations General Assembly, Human Rights Council
2017 – Human Rights Watch and interACT
“‘I Want to be Like Nature Made Me’ Medically Unnecessary Surgeries on Children in the US”
2017 – Former Surgeons General Opinion (Palm Center)
“Rethinking Genital Surgeries on Intersex Infants”
2017 – The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE)
Medical & Professional Societies
2017 – North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology (NASPAG)
“NASPAG Position Statement on Surgical Management of DSD”
2017 – The societies listed below prepared a response to the 2017 Human Rights Watch report on urological surgeries for children in the United States
“Physicians recommend individualized, multi-disciplinary care for children born ‘intersex'”
Societies for Pediatric Urology, American Association of Clinical Urologists, American Association of Pediatric Urologists, Pediatric Endocrine Society, Society of Academic Urologists, The Endocrine Society
2018 – European Society for Paediatric Urology
“Open letter to the Council of Europe”
2020 – The Societies for Pediatric Urology, The American Medical Association, & European Society for Pediatric Urology
“American Medical Association Code of Ethics policy for Pediatric Decision Making”
Assorted Media
July 25, 2017 – Associated Press: Pressure Mounts to Curtail Surgery in Intersex Children
October 5, 2017 – Washington Post Article: The Intersex Rights Movement is Ready for Its Moment
October 18, 2017 – University of Michigan Health Lab: How Hospitals Respond When It’s Uncertain If the Newborn is a Boy or a Girl
**Accord Alliance is aware of the statement recently released by Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago with regard to health care for children with differences of sex development. Aligned with Accord Alliance’s mission and values, our advisory board is currently reviewing all the varying perspectives/reactions in order to best understand ALL stakeholders’ experiences.
Biomedical Literature
This section contains a link to our DSD Research page which contains PubMed links to medical and psychosocial publications relevant to DSD care. [PubMed is a service provided by the US National Library of Medicine that catalogs biomedical literature]