BOY, girl or indeterminate? Germany will soon become the first country in Europe to legally recognise a third “indeterminate” gender in cases where a baby’s anatomy is ambiguous – because of developmental or genetic problems – making it difficult for doctors and parents to decide if a child is male or female.

The aim of the new law, unveiled last week by justice minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, is to avoid the need to label an intersex baby as male or female before the child is old enough to decide for itself.

“Children have had no say in the matter,” says Silvan Agius of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association. He says intersex babies are often surgically made female – the easier option, but one that can lead to physical and psychological problems.

This article appeared in print under the headline “It’s OK to be neither”