Hermaphrodites are people who have both male and female
genitals, it comes from Hermaphroditus, the son of Hermes and
Aphrodite. Another word for this is intersex. Inter means
between, and sex refers to what sex parts a person has, so
intersex means between male and female. People who are intersex
can look a lot of different ways. They may have a very small
penis and no testicles, or a very small and short vagina and a
large clitoris that looks like a penis. Sometimes when these
people are born, it is hard for the doctor to tell by looking if
the baby is a boy or a girl. If a baby is born intersex, the
parents can decide to have the baby get surgery, to make them
look more like a boy or more like a girl. Some people think this
is not a good idea, because the surgery can make it hard for the
person to enjoy sexual intercourse when they are older. But
others say that the baby's life will be too hard if they do not
get surgery, because it will be different and other people might
be mean to them.