MHM Magazine

22 | MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS | 2022 | Issue 4 MHM There is an ever increasing number of individuals who don’t fall within the binary classification of male or female, but who represent a plethora of genders. In order to be allies and effective healthcare practitioners to these individuals, it’s key to start by understanding what gender is, as it encapsulates more than just the anatomical sex characteristics the person is born with and which develop over time. The anatomical sex characteristics that an individual is born with are the first indicators used to assign gender. This results in many people already conceptualising gender within the binary of either male or female. However, there are of course intersex individuals whose reproductive anatomy, chromosomes or hormones differ from the typical definition of male and female. Being intersex doesn’t necessarily mean the individual identifies as By Alexa Scher Clinical Psychologist Johannesburg HOW DOCTORS CAN BE ALLIES AND SUPPORT THEIR GENDER DIVERSE PATIENTS