About Intersex Youth
Mental Health
Intersex Youth And Mental Health
The state of mental health of intersex young people has many aspects, and these differ between individuals, as they do for everyone else. The intersectionality of the factors impacting them often compounds for intersex youth, yet there is a lack of knowledge, research or understanding of how those experiences shape their young lives.
“Some people promise us change; some claim that change has already happened. And still we keep telling our stories, waiting for the stories to change. Waiting for all intersex people to grow up happy, loved, empowered to make choices over their own bodies, proud of their difference, and connected with community.“
Quote from the publication “Youth & I” foreword of Volume 1 by Steph Lum
Link to publication
Existing Research example
During this years’ OII Europe Community Event & Public Conference Amélie Waters, Policy and Research Officer at The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Youth and Student Organisation (IGLYO) shared some findings from their report on the mental health of LGBTQI youth. On the impact on medical interventions and surgeries on intersex respondents Amélie Waters highlighted the uncertainty that these interventions create.
“Intersex surgeries have very limited research longitudinally so I do not know what my future will be like”
Quote source: Amélie Waters, Policy and Research Officer, IGLYO from the presentation of the report “LGBTQI Youth Mental Health in the Spotlight” during the OII Europe Online Community Event & Public Conference 2026
Amélie states, “that this uncertainty is, in and of itself, a mental health burden for this young person living with unresolved and unresearched medical history and the impact that that can have on one’s mental health”.
Amélie continues, “[…] Bodily autonomy is not a separate issue that sits alongside mental health for intersex young people, it may even be one of the root causes for many of them.”
“Intersex people have no right to self-determination; human rights are being violated through the torture of intersex children. This is still not prohibited, and the support available to intersex people is very poor”
Quote source: Amélie Waters, Policy and Research Officer, IGLYO from the presentation of the report “LGBTQI Youth Mental Health in the Spotlight” during the OII Europe Online Community Event & Public Conference 2026
From the IGLYO mental health report (CLICK TO OPEN)
Intersex young people experience higher levels of anxiety than endosex respondents. Approximately 37.5% of intersex respondents have experienced symptoms of an anxiety disorder in previous years, 41.7% in the past 6 months, compared to 33.9% among endosex respondents in recent years and 36.6% in the past 6 months.
The data related to diagnosis of anxiety disorders shows a different trend, with 12.5% of intersex respondents diagnosed recently, compared to 14.5% of endosex respondents.
Data on depression reveals significantly higher and concerning rates among intersex respondents, with 52.2% reporting symptoms of depression in previous years, compared to 37.2% of endosex respondents.
Only 4.3% of intersex respondents reported not experiencing symptoms, compared to 6.9% of endosex respondents.
Similarly, regarding clinical diagnoses, 8.7% of intersex respondents reported a recent diagnosis of depression by a doctor, compared to 13.2% of endosex respondents.
“I’m proud of accepting myself, my body, overcoming of my psychological problems and I even can support others”
Intersex participant in the “Intersex Lives” Campaign, 2020
At the same time it is important to say clearly: the distress or mental health struggles that many intersex youth experience is more often linked to how they are treated by people, including peers, family members, educators, and other members of their community, rather than to the fact of being intersex itself.
Which is also why family and social support and acceptance, as well as peer support, is so vital : spaces where intersex youth can come together among peers, in a place of belonging, pride, joy and celebration! For many young intersex people, meeting other intersex people who they can connect with and confide in, can be life changing. You are not alone!
In the early 2000’s, the power of the internet, through blogs and digital forums written by intersex people, allowed intersex persons from around the world to finally connect and share their stories with one another. Fast forward more than two decades, social media now allows us to closely connect with each other, to build community and further continue to break the invisibilisation of intersex lived realities, reaching audiences around the world. The internet can be a scary place, but it can also be a vital lifeline for many of us to break free of secrecy and silence!
The power of coming together, learning from one another, sharing stories and struggles, building friendships, celebrating individual and collective achievements, far outshines the stigma and marginalisation that intersex youth far too often still face.
OII Europe, its member organisations, and many incredible intersex activists across Europe are united in one clear message to intersex youth: being intersex is not some ‘problem to fix’, young intersex people thrive when they have access to human-rights based, and comprehensive information about their bodies, when they have access to peer support and where their bodily autonomy and right to self-determination is upheld: let’s help build a world together where all this is possible!
