Boy or girl? Law, gender and being born intersex

Boy or girl? This is one of the first questions all new parents are asked. In a small percentage of cases, the answer isn't straightforward: the child is intersex. In a highly gendered society, how does the law apply to people whose physiology doesn't fit the binary categories of male and female?  What right does the state have to classify people as male or female in official documents such as birth certificates and passports - and do we actually need gender categories? - Jens Scherpe In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the birth of a child must, by law, be registered within 42 days of the baby being born. To register the birth, the parents (or parent) must provide various pieces of information including the sex of the baby. But what happens if the child has been born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn't match the typical definitions of female or male? Since 2013, it has been possible for children born in Germany to be legally recorded on their birth certificate (and later in life) as 'indeterminate'. While this remains controversial, especially among intersex groups who see it adding to stigmatisation, it creates a legal gender status other than male or female. Worldwide, a very small percentage of babies are born intersex - an umbrella term that covers a range of genetic variations that may be apparent at birth or emerge later in an individual's development.