A Mother’s Fight for Intersex Recognition

A Harare mother’s fight for her intersex child’s recognition highlights stigma, family strain and legal barriers as Zimbabwe debates introducing a third-sex marker and broader protection for intersex rights (image source)

Lead Grace, a Harare mother, has endured stigma, violence and financial hardship after her second-born child, Tatenda, was diagnosed intersex — a condition where physical sex characteristics don’t fit typical definitions of male or female.

Details of the Struggle Grace recalls the shock of Tatenda’s birth on 1 August 2013 and the months it took to accept a condition long confused with homosexuality in Zimbabwe’s conservative culture. Tatenda faces taunts at school and in the community, labelled a curse and a “confused gender,” while Grace’s husband has withdrawn support, leaving her to shoulder medical bills and household chores alone.

Defining Intersex Conditions Intersex traits are biological variations in chromosomes, hormones or anatomy and not a choice or part of LGBTQ identities, according to the Intersex Society of North America. Medical estimates put the prevalence at up to 1.7% of global births, yet social taboos in Zimbabwe drive intersex people into hiding and fuel discrimination.

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Kudakwashe Murisa of the Intersex Community of Zimbabwe highlights legal and social hurdles. “When an intersex person is born, they assign a sex which may not align with biological makeup, trapping us on paper,” he says. Non-consensual surgeries and lack of identity-document options add to intersex people’s vulnerability.

In late 2024, activists filed a High Court bid to introduce a third-sex marker on birth certificates, seeking to eliminate mismatches between assigned documentation and physical characteristics. The lawsuit remains pending and could set a regional precedent for legal recognition of intersex persons.

Stigma around intersex conditions in Zimbabwe parallels outdated beliefs of curses or witchcraft. A 2024 Herald feature noted families often hide intersex children to avoid community shaming, and many children endure invasive surgeries without informed consent to “normalize” their bodies.

“Non-consensual medical interventions violate our human rights and deepen trauma,” says Dorcas Chitiyo of the Health Law and Policy Consortium of Zimbabwe. Grace plans to launch a small poultry venture to sustain her five children, even as she awaits legislative reform.

Activists call on Parliament to amend the Births and Deaths Registration Act to recognize intersex people and defer irreversible surgeries until individuals can consent. The question remains whether Zimbabwe’s government will integrate intersex rights into its next National Gender Policy.