The British government is preparing to launch a consultation next year into the treatment, rights, and experiences of intersex people, BuzzFeed News can reveal.

Meetings are underway between the government’s equalities office and those involved in the care of intersex people after the department issued a “call for evidence” into the areas that require further investigation.

Intersex is an umbrella term for people whose bodies do not align physically with standard notions of either male or female. This can relate to genitals, reproductive organs, sex chromosomes, or sex hormones, and is distinct from being transgender, which relates to gender identity.

There are widespread concerns among intersex organisations about the way that laws, human rights, and the medical profession treat intersex children and adults.

Among these concerns is the practice of doctors performing surgery on infants to modify genitals, particularly in cases where there is no clinical need to do so, and when no informed consent has been obtained from the child.

In 2017, researchers into intersex experiences at the University of Huddersfield called for an overhaul of the medical response. “Support and training for medics — including about sex diversity issues — is required,” said the report’s authors. “The severe, harmful effects reported as a result of early childhood interventions need to be acknowledged.” Read more via Buzzfeed