A high-profile fashion model who has worked for Dior, Givenchy and Vera Wang wants the world to know she is intersex, which means she was born with both male and female sex traits.
Hanne Gaby Odiele, 29, tells CTV News Channel she’s “in a really comfortable place right now” so she decided to use her platform to advocate against “harmful” surgeries performed soon after birth.
The 5’10” Belgian model, known for her bold makeup and blonde hair, is also trying to reduce the stigma around intersex people, who she says make up two per cent of the population.
Although the causes vary, Odiele is intersex as a result of Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome, which means she was born with XY chromosomes but her body rejected male sex hormones.
Kimberly Zieselman, an intersex woman who runs the Boston-based advocacy group Interact, told CTV News Channel that the intersex community is “thrilled” to have a high-profile advocate.
“Intersex people are not that rare, they’re just been largely invisible because of the shame and stigma that has been imposed on them by the medical community,” she said.
Odiele agrees. “I think it’s not something people can easily talk about,” she said. “I feel like a lot of people in my shoes have never been able to speak up about it or it’s very difficult for them.”
Odiele added that she feels lucky to work in the fashion industry, which is “quite-open-minded,” noting she’s received messages of support from friends like designers Jason Wu and Alexander Wang.
An often-cited research review in the American Journal of Human Biology estimates that intersex people may make up as high as two per cent of the populations, although related surgeries are much rarer.
