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  • Article

Journeying home

A serious health scare was the catalyst to Chris beginning the process of understanding his experiences more clearly, and using that new insight to help other intersex people.

  • Article

Born different

For Chris North, being born intersex in the 1940s meant his many childhood hospital visits, tests and operations were not explained or discussed. As he reveals, doctors encouraged strict secrecy.

  • Article

Wonder years

The confusion and secrecy surrounding his condition seriously affected Chris’s mental health, blighting his teenage years. But somehow he began to hope and plan for the future.

  • Article

Ways appear

While his sense of body shame meant the personal side of his life was unfulfilled, Chris’s career was rewarding. His own childhood experiences gave him profound empathy for the children he worked with.

All stories (4)

Images

  • Heart: three figures, and the genital area of supposed intersex people: two figures. Line engraving by Campbell, 1816/1821.
  • Clay figures, the right one clothed and placing his hand on the left one, who is naked and intersex (hermaphrodite). Watercolour.
  • A clay figure of an intersex person revealing their genital area (Hermaphroditos anasyromenos). Watercolour.
  • A person of both genders advertised as a spectacle. Letterpress and halftone, 192-.
  • A person of both genders advertised as a spectacle. Letterpress and halftone, 192-.
  • A statue of Attis, front and back views, showing male genitals and female breasts. Engraving, 1669.
  • A statue of Attis, front and back views, showing male genitals and female breasts. Engraving, 1669.
  • A statue of Attis, front and back views, showing male genitals and female breasts. Engraving, 1669.
  • Hermaphroditus. Etching by Pierre Duflos.
  • Wahre Abbildung einer Wunder-Geburt, so im Königreich Castilien zu Gian Anno 1680 den 13. December ... gebohren worden ist : Wie auch die Feuer-Saul, so zu Livorno etlich Wochen lang, alle Abend am Himmel gesehen worden.
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Catalogue

All works (62)