Excerpt: He or She: Stories About the Intersexed

'Thanks,' said Jennifer. She swept a burgundy lock away from her eyes, and focused on a painting of a beach hanging on the wall opposite; at least she would feel a little less awkward not looking at him.
'As you can see, I have a pretty mannish face, right?' she began. In her periphery, she could see Marcus shaking his head. She let out what seemed to be a sigh and laugh combined.
'No, I do. I know what you said before, but I don't look feminine. I'm not going to fool myself. I have a man's face and man feet and a man's height. Only small breasts and no hips. Hell, I have XY chromosomes and testes somewhere inside me. I'm mostly boy, biologically speaking.'
Marcus was silent. Jennifer could tell he wanted to interject, but whatever he wanted to say, he was keeping it to himself. This made jennifer feel a little more at ease.
'But, I know that in my head, I am a girl,' she said, 'and I think I do want to have... surgery... to feminise myself.'
'That's a big decision,' Marcus said quietly. Jennifer nodded in response. Marcus continued, 'and I know just the doctor you can talk to about it! I sought him out for Bianca, you know.'
Marcus reached into his back pocket and produced his brown leather wallet. Flipping it open, he smiled at her and whipped out a business card. He handed it to Jennifer and she glanced at it.
'Doctor Frank Mcdonald?' she read, and her eyes flicked back up to Marcus. He nodded, his eyes bright.
'I found him through careful research. He is one of the most cluey doctors you'll meet when it comes to intersex conditions.'
Jennifer smiled, and a feeling of joy begin to rise within her. Such a chance meeting, and yet this was exactly what she wanted. In all her twenty-eight years she'd never had such a serendipitous moment.
'Thank you so much,' she said, her eyes meeting his. He smiled back, and she became aware that his hand was still on her knee, as he was now squeezing it. She placed her own hand on his.
'Really, I can't tell you how much this means to me,' she said, becoming emotional. This wasn't like her at all.
'I'm so glad I could help,' he replied. After a moment, she felt his hand pulled away from her sharply. She cocked her head and studied his expression, which conveyed a slightly excited - almost manic - undertone.
'Oh, and something else!' he exclaimed, 'There is an online support group I found. It's for people of all intersex conditions... here, let me write it down for you.'
He took the business card and flipped it over to the blank side. Pulling a pen from his shirt pocket, he scribbled down a website address.
'Natural variation?' she read from the URL. Marcus nodded.
'It's a site that tries to convey the positive side to intersex. The fact that it occurs naturally, albeit rare. It's really fascinating and... kind of beautiful, depending on the way you look at it.'