Irene Kuzemko (; ), also transcribed from Ukrainian and Russian as Irina Kuzemko, is a

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n- Ukrainian

intersex Intersex people are those born with any of several sex characteristics, including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical binar ...

woman and

intersex human rights Intersex people are born with sex characteristics, such as chromosomes, gonads, or genitals, that, according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies." Intersex pe ...

activist. She co-founded Intersex Russia in 2017, is a youth member of

interACT Advocates for Informed Choice, dba interACT or interACT Advocates for Intersex Youth, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization advocating for the legal and human rights of children with intersex traits. The organization was founded in 2006 and fo ...

, and an executive board member of

OII Europe OII Europe (Organisation Intersex International Europe) is the umbrella organisation of European human rights-based intersex organisations. It is a non-governmental organization (NGO) which is working for the protection and full implementation o ...

. She have started her human rights advocacy as a member of Association of the Russian Speaking Intersex.

Early life

Kuzemko was born in 1993 in

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

with

mixed gonadal dysgenesis 45,X/46,XY mosaicism, also known as X0/XY mosaicism and mixed gonadal dysgenesis, is a mutation of sex development in humans associated with sex chromosome aneuploidy and mosaicism of the Y chromosome. It is a fairly rare chromosomal disorder a ...

and assigned female at birth. She was unaware of any difference in her body until puberty when her body failed to menstruate or grow breasts, and she was unaware of this possibility. Kuzemko was sent to Moscow aged 15 for medical treatment. She describes being left in the corridor while discussions about her body took place without her being present, experiences of shame, alienation and suicidality, and her father telling her she had "something wrong with erovaries". She underwent surgery, awaking with her hands and legs tied down. Kuzemko first experienced menstruation at age 17. She has described how she found out she was intersex when watching a

BuzzFeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet mass media, media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John Seward Johnson III, John S. Johnson III to ...

video about people with intersex variations, when she was aged 22. Kuzemko describes this moment as like "winning the jackpot" because she learned that other people with similar experiences existed. She states that knowing the truth about her body was liberating and helped her become confident. Kuzemko requested her medical records and found out that she had XY chromosomes, and had been subjected to removal of an internal

testis A testicle or testis ( testes) is the gonad in all male bilaterians, including humans, and is Homology (biology), homologous to the ovary in females. Its primary functions are the production of sperm and the secretion of Androgen, androgens, p ...

and

fallopian tube The fallopian tubes, also known as uterine tubes, oviducts or salpinges (: salpinx), are paired tubular sex organs in the human female body that stretch from the Ovary, ovaries to the uterus. The fallopian tubes are part of the female reproduct ...

without her knowledge.

Activism

Kuzemko campaigns for bodily autonomy, and an end to secrecy and unnecessary medicalization, describing how medical intervention is still promoted by the Russian Ministry of Health. She have expressed concern about linking intersex and LGBT rights at a time of violence against LGBT people in Russia, and states: She co-founded Intersex Russia in 2017 and is a youth member of

and an executive board member of

. She speaks internationally and contributes to work developing resources, and promoting sexual and reproductive rights.

Selected bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuzemko, Irene Living people Intersex rights activists Intersex rights in Russia Intersex women Russian intersex people People from Lviv 1993 births