Belgian model Hanne Gaby Odiele is renowned for her bold looks, bringing strong street vibes to fashion houses like Alexander Wang, Chanel, and Dior, and now she’s using her platform as an established model to come out as intersex, and speak openly about her experiences.
Hanne’s one of the first high-profile people to speak out publicly about her intersex identity, and god damn it’s about time we’re having this conversation.
Hanne recently spoke with USAToday about her personal experience with being intersex, and dealing with Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS) from birth.
AIS is an intersex trait where a person is born with XY chromosomes but the body is resistant to the male hormones, resulting in female physical appearance with male genetic makeup. In Hanne’s case, she was born with male chromosomes, and undescended testes.
Hanne, now 29, recalls being told by her parents that if she didn’t get her testes removed, she would not grow up to be a “normal, female girl.” She underwent surgery to have her testes removed as a child (which is a whole ‘nother issue we really need to talk about) and then went on to have vaginal reconstructive surgery at the age of 18.
“It’s actually not too rare. 2% of the population is born intersex – it’s as common as being born with red hair.”
Her story is not uncommon of intersex people – these surgeries are driven heavily by the taboo surrounding intersex syndromes like AIS and definitely a reason why Hanne decided to speak out publicly about her experiences.
There’s no absolutely determined number of how much of our population is made up of intersex people, hugely due to the taboo that surrounds it. Organisation International Intersex Australia pins it at about 1.7% of all live births in the world are identified as intersex individuals.
So yep, massive props to Hanne for using her status to talk about something that is both a huge part of her personal experience, and a topic that is so rarely spoken about. Stigmatisation of something so natural is nonsensical, and it needs to end.
Source: USAToday.
Photo: Getty / Jamie McCarthy.
Photo: Getty / Jamie McCarthy.
