A high-profile fashion model who has worked for Dior, Givenchy and Vera Wang wants the world to know she is intersex, which means she was born with both male and female sex traits.
Hanne Gaby Odiele, 29, tells 麻豆影视 Channel she鈥檚 鈥渋n a really comfortable place right now鈥� so she decided to use her platform to advocate against 鈥渉armful鈥� surgeries performed soon after birth.
The 5鈥�10鈥� Belgian model, known for her bold makeup and blonde hair, is also trying to reduce the stigma around intersex people, who she says make up two per cent of the population.
Although the causes vary, Odiele is intersex as a result of Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome, which means she was born with XY chromosomes but her body rejected male sex hormones.
Kimberly Zieselman, an intersex woman who runs the Boston-based advocacy group Interact, told 麻豆影视 Channel that the intersex community is 鈥渢hrilled鈥� to have a high-profile advocate.
鈥淚ntersex people are not that rare, they鈥檙e just been largely invisible because of the shame and stigma that has been imposed on them by the medical community,鈥� she said.
Odiele agrees. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 not something people can easily talk about,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 feel like a lot of people in my shoes have never been able to speak up about it or it鈥檚 very difficult for them.鈥�
Odiele added that she feels lucky to work in the fashion industry, which is 鈥渜uite-open-minded,鈥� noting she鈥檚 received messages of support from friends like designers Jason Wu and Alexander Wang.
An often-cited research review in the estimates that intersex people may make up as high as two per cent of the populations, although related surgeries are much rarer.
