Understanding of intersex: The meanings of umbrella terms and opinions about medical and social responses among laypeople in the United States and United Kingdom.

Intersex variations render a person’s body different from both normative male and female embodiment. Medical intervention on infants’ intersex traits is long standing, common, contested for breaching human rights to bodily integrity self-determination. Such justified by the threat of unbearable social stigma, but empirical studies stigma public understanding are lacking. Here, U.K. U.S. participants (N = 271) reported their free associations three “umbrella terms” opinions about diverse medical responses. Among umbrella terms, hermaphrodite prompted most references nonhumans, identities, disorders sex development children. Participants’ responses were more consistently predicted sexual identity than any other demographic variable; LGB+ endorsed more, while heterosexual more. Beliefs in nonbinary gender lower right-wing authoritarianism support opposition accounted some differences. Social clinical implications discussed.