I applaud gender-unspecified bassinet "crib cards"

[Margaret Bates Walker MD RMT]

Gender need not be publicized on the crib card.  It seems presumptuous of hospital personnel to "assign" a gender to a newborn unable to speak for him/herself.  Newborns presenting with ambiguous genitalia seem to be even more rare now than they were 40 years ago.  When an infant with ambiguous genitalia is born, hours may be consumed compiling enough information about the newborn's genes and imaging studies, and receiving replies from consulting specialists (endocrinologist, surgeon, etc) before the care providers and parents can arrive at the "best resolution of disparate data" and select the "gender of rearing" that seems to be most appropriate for the child.  

At our birth, each of us is potentially gender-fluid. Our "personhood" is indisputable and immutable.  Our gender may be neither.  

[Stefan Johansson]

Thanks for posting about this. I sort of both disagree and agree!

In Swedish language there is now (since a few years) a gender-unspecific pronoun, to be used when neither "he" or "she" is a suitable pronoun for a person (rather than using "it") This pronoun gains ground, especially in media and public documentation when statements refers to "any person" or "he/she".

When I do maternity ward rounds (well baby checks) I usually ask parents "How is your baby doing" and I have never met parents responding anything else than either he or she. So, then I also use the pronoun parents use. A more philosophical thought of mine is also that we, as pediatricians, have a responsibility to judge whether an infant is of male of female sex. Diseases may be sex-specific, sometimes we need to flag for uncertain sex (ambiguous genitals) and make medical investigation to find out the biological sex. Therefore, I believe it is uncomplicated and even correct for myself as a neonatologist to refer to an infants as "a boy" or "a girl".

Gender is a different story for me, rather the sex in a societal context. For example, we had a lengthy discussion about nursing blankets being blue and pink, and whether boys should be given a blue blanket and girls a pink one. The end of that discussion, all babies were to get the same color and now they all have orange blankets. That was a good decision I think. As same-sexed parents have children, we are also reminded to have open minds about gender and parenthood.

Would be great to hear more peoples comments about this topic!

[tarek]

Nice topic

Dr Stefan your question how is the baby is ok in English but in Arabic it is difficult so in well baby check or postnatal ward i am asking the mother first boy or girl 

We are following blue and pink barcelet and clothes i think it is better for us in the unit and for checking before discharge 

ambigious babies we are writing frankly over the creb or the incubator ambigious tell the results available that made no confusion to the parents