Counseling and emotional support: At the Differences of Sex Development Program, we understand that a diagnosis of differences of sex development (DSD, or intersex) can be stressful and even confusing. That’s why we offer your child and your family access to emotional support through a counselor, psychiatrist and/or psychologist.
Legal advocacy support: In addition to counseling and emotional support, we provide legal advocacy support when needed. We also offer links to other DSD resources.
Respecting a patient’s autonomy: Respecting patients’ ability to make their own decisions is the foundation of our program. Our goal is to make sure we’re helping your child maintain his or her dignity and fertility through all aspects of treatment, including:
- Avoiding unnecessary surgeries: Emergency medical and functional issues — such as not having the ability to urinate — require surgery. Otherwise, we avoid performing unnecessary surgeries until a child is old enough to be part of that decision-making process.
- Shared-decision making: We discuss diagnosis and treatment options with you and your child in full transparency. It is our belief that this is necessary to ensure you and your child can make informed, shared decisions.
Multidisciplinary, team care: Our DSD team includes a variety of specialists to address the full complexity of DSD conditions. We provide this coordinated, specialty care in one location for your added convenience. Our team includes specialists in the following areas:
- Pediatric endocrinology
- Pediatric urology
- Pediatric and adolescent gynecology
- Genetics and genomics
- Child and adolescent psychiatry
- Pediatric psychology
- Social work
Community outreach: We want children born with differences of sex development to feel safe and valued in all of their environments. Our case managers and nurse coordinator meet with people at schools, day cares and more to provide education about differences of sex development whenever additional support for your child is needed.
Ongoing DSD research: The DSD team participates in clinical research studies to improve care for patients with differences of sex development. Learn more about the team’s current and past research, and their publications.
