What are intersex individuals?

Intersex individuals are people who have a mix of traits that make them different from what is usually considered boys or girls.

Imagine you have a box of crayons. Most boxes come with 24 colors, some might be blue, red, yellow. But if you had a special box that had both blue and red in one crayon, that would be kind of cool! Intersex people are like that special crayon, they have a mix of traits that can make them different from what is usually expected.

Sometimes, when babies are born, doctors might say they look more like a boy or a girl, but sometimes they see something in the middle. That’s kind of like getting half a chocolate bar and half a gummy bear, it’s not one or the other, but a mix of both!

Sometimes people try to make everything fit into just two groups, like trying to put all the crayons into only red and blue. But that’s not always needed! Intersex individuals can have a beautiful mix of traits, and that's perfectly okay.