Genital surgery should be banned on children whose sex characteristics are ambiguous because the procedures can scar young patients for life and be considered human- rights violations, a leading rights group said.
Several hundred so-called intersex children in the US have undergone sex reassignment surgery in recent years. Worldwide, doctors recommend surgery for an estimated one in every 2000 intersex babies, US-based Human Rights Watch and interACT, an advocacy group, said.
Surgeries to make them resemble more typical boys or girls include removal of testes or ovaries, deepening shallow vaginas and enlarging small penises, they said in a report.
The surgeries amount to "human rights abuse taking place in a medical setting", said Kyle Knight, a HRW researcher.
"These surgeries are medically unnecessary, they are harmful and they haven't delivered on the outcomes originally theorised."
The report said the benefits of sex reassignment surgery remain unproven but the resulting harm can be catastrophic. Surgery can cause lifelong pain, sterilisation, loss of sexual sensation and health complications.
About 1.7% of the world's population is thought to be born intersex. But detailed data on the US intersex population, once called hermaphrodites, is largely lacking, Knight said.
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