According to experts, up to 1.7 per cent people worldwide are born undefined by gender. There’s no accurate data on their number in Montenegro, but if we put these figures in our context, we come to the conclusion that there are around 10.580 intersex individuals in our country, Jovan Ulićević, executive director of the Spektra Association, told Dnevne Novine daily.
He explained that intersex people are those born with ambiguous sex traits. Although being intersex is almost invisible in Montenegro, it’s not so rare in the world.
“Sometimes it happens that people are not aware of being intersex, as it often happens that intersex babies are assigned a female or male sex after birth, while some intersex traits are discovered later,” Ulićević explained.
Experts believe that up to 1.7 per cent of the world’s population is born with variations in gender characteristics, which, according to Ulicevic, is about the same as the number of redheads.
He added that it is not uncommon for babies with gender variations to undergo surgery shortly after birth without the knowledge and consent of their parents.
“Such cases either are not registered or are described under another diagnosis. The reason behind this is the social stigma in connection with intersex people.”
