In the last decade, several aspects of care for individuals who have differences of sex development have become highly controversial. In 2015, the Council of Europe (CoE) has published an “issue paper on Human Rights and Intersex People”, resulting in a resolution in 2019, urging all member states to secure the protection of human rights of intersex people. In Spring 2022, an international conference was held in preparation of an update on the topic.
Several European countries have responded differently to the CoE’s resolution, with legislation already in place in some countries, and legislative initiatives undertaken in others.
In this session, we will review the current legal situation in specific European countries, and try to understand some of the existing tension. We will present the results of a recent international collaboration among stakeholders from various backgrounds that aimed to promote discussion, achieve base-level consensus, and – where possible – provide provisional recommendations that may guide medical and psychosocial care while awaiting a broader consensus, with the hope of ultimately improving the care and well-being of all children and adults who have a DSD.