“Sometimes I dey cry why e be like dis”, mama of 10 years old boy born with cogenital problem tell BBC Pidgin.
Dem born di boy wey be di only ”male” child for di family with two genitals for di southwestern part of Nigeria.
Im parent talk about dia struggle and di challenges wey di 10-years old dey face from day to day.
Although di small boy don pass through series of surgical operations to correct di condition but dem still need more surgery for am to dey normal.
Di parent dey hope say e go dey able to live im life as normal pikin one day.
“Wen I born my pikin, doctor no tell me weda na boy or girl.”
“sometimes I dey cry why e be like dis as na im be di only boy for di family,” di mama tok.
Di fada of di boy say wen di doctor tell am for hospital say im wife don born pikin e dey very happy.
“Wen I come out doctor say congratulation, your wife don born baby bouncing boy. I dey happy.”
“So e say make I follow am to di department wey dem keep di boy to show me di condition wey di boy dey.”
“Then wen dem open di two legs, I come see am. I no fit even tok weda na boy or na girl di pikin be. I dey confused inside me.”
“Dey come send us go dia headquarters for Obafemi Awolowo Teaching Hospital complex for Ile-Ife.”
Di fada say wen na from dia e come hear from one doctor mout say di condition wey di pikin get na congentanal problem.
“Doctor say di boy go need several surgeries.”
How di 10 years old boy condition dey
“Di manhood (penis) wey suppose dey up dey under face down, di balls wey suppose dey down dey up. Everthing just dey upside down,” di fada tok.
Di small boy no dey fit remove cloth for wia pipo dey to pass urine, e dey bend down to urinate like woman and urine dey come out wet e cloth indisfcrimately.
Di mama explain more give BBC Pidgin how di condition dey affect her pikin life.
“Di place wey e dey use to take urinate dey under, as di manhood wey e suppose use to pass urine dey closed.”
“Di place wey im dey use take dey pass out poo , dey very small and di poo dey come out small-small.”
Because of im condition e get special chair for class wey im dey seat down and e dey wear diaper since wey dem born am.
She say at first, dem no wan put am for school because of shame but doctor come advise dem to allow di pikin go school.
Wetin di parents don do to correct dia pikin condition
Di fada of di 10 years old boy say since wen dem born di pikin, dem don do six surgeries for am.
“We don spend all our money to make di pikin dey okay before e grow up to be man,” di fada tok.
“Each of dem wey we do dey successful but di sugeries neva make everything complete.”
Di small boy go still need plenti operation for am to dey normal as a male child.
So far, di fada say di boy don fit dey piss now through di manhood afta one of di operations to open am.
E also don fit dey pass poo now like odas afta one of di operations but di dropping of urine from one small opening for im private part still be problem to di pikin.
“Doctor say di boy go need several surgeries,” di fada add.
Wetin be Intersex
- Intersex, wey also dey known as disorders of sex development (DSD), na wen sex characteristics – including genitals, reproductive organs and chromosome patterns – no fit into di typical notions of female or male bodies.
- Intersex na di umbrella term use to describe pipo wey dem born with di condition wey dey above.
- Some traits dey visible at birth, odas go begin show until puberty and some variations for chromosomes fit no dey physically visible at all.
- Worldwide, up to 1.7% of pipo get intersex traits, according to di Office of di United Nations High Commissioner of Human rights
- Many different types of DSD na im dey.
- E get more than 40 congenital variations of disorders of sex development wey also dey know as intersex.
Wetin Doctor tok about Intersex condition
Gynecologist/urologist, Dr Adebayo Bamisebi tok more abbout di Intersex and weda pesin with dis condition fit give birth.
“Intersex get very wide variety, it all depend on di kind of intersex di pesin be”.
“Dis na because you go need to look at several factors wey dey dia and di rate of differences wey dey to di reproductive function of di pesin and whatever treatment dey fit give di pesin to actually fit give birth.”
Dr Adebayo Bamisebi say wen pesin get dis condition, sometimes a particular sex dey predominant than di oda.
So e dey depend on di one wey dey more dominant. like for di one wey di male sex dey predominate, dey need to look at oda things like;
“Is he producing sperm? If e dey produce, wetin be di quality of di sperm? If di testicle and oda male excreting duct dey function properly why not.”
“But if e no fuction properly and e no produce semen, e fit no dey able to,” Dr Adebayo Bamisebi tok.
Concerning weda dem fit correct dis condition, Dr Adebayo Bamisebi say;
” Intersex fit dey corrected afta proper assessment of di individual and to know what and what be di mata.”
“Whatever correction to di condition go dey individualize and no be one general direction to all case.”
Di Gynecologist/urologist explain more on how parent fit discover if dia pikin na Intersex;
“Well medical expert go examine di pikin properly. Dem tend to look at wetin dey happun dia.”
“First of all, dem go observe di type of external genitalia and look wetin dem need to do about dat.”
