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

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

intersex Intersex people are individuals 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 bina ...

woman and intersex human rights 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 using innovative strategies to advocate for the legal and human rights of children with intersex traits. The organizati ...

, and an executive board member of OII Europe.

Early life

Kuzemko was born in 1993 in

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

with

mixed gonadal dysgenesis 45,X/46,XY mosaicism, also known as X0/XY mosaicism and mixed gonadal dysgenesis,

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 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 S. Johnson III to focus on tracking viral content. Ken ...

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 and

fallopian tube The fallopian tubes, also known as uterine tubes, oviducts or salpinges (singular salpinx), are paired tubes in the human female that stretch from the uterus to the ovaries. The fallopian tubes are part of the female reproductive system. In ot ...

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 OII Europe. 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 People from Lviv 1993 births