Intersex Surgery in the 18th Century | New Republic

Sex-Change Surgery in the 18th Century | New Republic

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According to Brand's report, published in 1787, he noticed an “irregularity” in the patient’s “external parts.” After further examination, he concluded that the child’s “part, which had the appearance of the labia pudenda, was in fact the scrotum,” and suggested an “operation to free the penis from its confinement.” He went ahead and made some alterations, enabling the child—whose name is unknown—“to urinate standing up, wear trousers, and enjoy the privileges of being a male.”

The child's wishes were of course deemed irrelevant. As they are all too often today.