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It is the first lawsuit of its kind filed on behalf an [[intersex ]] child who was given sex assignment surgery while too young to give [[informed consent]].<ref name="bennett-smith2013">{{REFnews
|title=Mark And Pam Crawford, parents of intersex child, sue South Carolina for sex assignment surgery
|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mark-pam-crawford-intersex-child_n_3280353
}}</ref>
On April 18, 2006, when M.C. was 16 months old, Dr. [[Ian Aaronson]] operated on him at the {{UNI|Medical University of South Carolina|MUSC}} (MUSC). He reduced M.C.’s [[penis ]] to look more like a [[clitoris]] ([[Clitoroplasty]]), cut up his scrotum to form labia, and removed his internal testicle tissue ([[Orchiectomy]]). Two other specialists also treated M.C.: Dr. Yaw Appiagyei-Dankah, who worked at MUSC, and Dr. James Amrhein from Greenville Hospital.
He had been identified as a boy at birth because of his “rather large” penis. Routine blood tests showed his testosterone levels were extremely elevated. However, he had a small vaginal opening beneath his penis and both ovarian and testicular tissue.
The suit filed in federal court alleged that the defendants violated the child's right to privacy by deciding to go forward with the surgery. The state suit alleges medical malpractice and gross negligence.
M.C.’s lawsuit–supported by the [https://www.splcenter.org Southern Poverty Law Center], among others–brought § 1983 claims against all defendants, alleging that they violated substantive and procedural due process rights guaranteed to M.C. by the 14th Amendment. It also charged that that the doctors committed medical malpractice by failing to obtain adequate [[informed consent ]] before proceeding. The District Court for the District of South Carolina denied the defendants’ motions to dismiss and rejected their defense of qualified immunity.
[[Advocates for Informed Choice]] (AIC) is working with the SPLC on behalf of the Crawfords. The AIC is an organization that specializes in advocating for the rights of intersex children, according to its director and founder, Anne Tamar-Mattis.