Albania has made a historic decision to stop medical interventions at birth in the cases of intersex children.

The Ministry of Health has approved a protocol for the Evaluation of Children with Atypical Genital Development, otherwise known as intersex. Albania joins a long list of other countries that have adopted a similar protocol.

Prior to the new protocol, it was left to the parents to decide on whether an intervention to assign particular sex would take place. Now, this cannot happen and surgical intervention can only take place if deemed necessary for health reasons.

Anisa Metalla, a lawyer at Tirana Legal Aid Society (TLAS), an organisation that has worked with intersex persons in the country, has been involved in the realisation of the protocol. She said it is a great and very necessary step for improving child health.

“According to the protocol, surgical interventions will only be given in cases when it is required and all interventions should be done according to protocol and not how the parents decide,” she said. Read more via Exit News