(1) The care for the person of the child does not include the right to consent to the treatment of a child with a variant of sexual development who is unable to consent or to oneself perform such treatment, which is being performed solely with the intention, without any additional grounds for the treatment existing, of aligning the child’s physical appearance with that of the male or female sex.
(2) Parents can consent to surgical interventions in the internal or external genitalia of the child with a variant of sexual development who is unable to consent, the consequence of which could be an alignment of the child’s physical appearance with that of the male or female sex and regarding which the power to grant consent is not already lacking in accordance with subsection (1) only if it is impossible to postpone the intervention until the child takes a self-determined decision. Section 1909 is not to be applied.
(3) The consent in accordance with subsection (2) sentence 1 requires ratification by the family court unless the surgical intervention is required in order to avert danger to the life or health of the child and cannot be postponed until the ratification is issued. The ratification is to be issued on application of the parents if the planned intervention is most conducive to the best interests of the child. Where the parents submit to the family court an opinion by an interdisciplinary committee in favour of the intervention in accordance with subsection (4), then the presumption will be that the planned intervention is most conducive to the best interests of the child.
(4) As a rule, the interdisciplinary committee is to be made up of the following persons at a minimum:
1. the child’s treating party as defined in section 630a,
2. at least one further physician,
3. a person with professional qualifications as a psychologist, child and youth psychotherapist or child and youth psychiatrist, and
4. a person trained in ethics or who has pursued further training or continuing education in ethics.
The medical members of the committee must be paediatricians with different subspecialties. They must include a specialist physician for paediatrics with a focus on paediatric endocrinology and diabetology. A member of the committee according to sentence 1 no. 2 may not be employed by the medical care facility in which it is intended to perform the surgical intervention. The entirety of all committee members must be experienced in dealing with children with variants of sexual development. As a rule, the committee is to involve a consulting person with a variant of sexual development should the parents so wish.
(5) The opinion from the interdisciplinary committee in favour of the surgical intervention in accordance with subsection (2) sentence 1 is to include the following information in particular:
1. the designation of the committee members and details of their qualification,
2. the child’s age and whether the child has a variant of sexual development and if so, which variant this is,
3. the designation of the planned intervention and what the medical indication is for it,
4. why the committee is in favour of the intervention, taking account of the child’s best interests, and whether they regard the intervention to be most conducive to the best interests of the child, in particular which risks are entailed by this intervention, by a different treatment or by forgoing an intervention until the child takes a self-determined decision,
5. whether committee members had a discussion with the parents and the child, and if so, which committee members did so, and whether committee members provided information, explanations and advice to the parents and the child on how this variant of sexual development may be dealt with, and if so, which committee members did so,
6. whether a consulting person with a variant of sexual development provided consultancy to the parents and the child,
7. the extent to which the child is able to form an opinion and to express themselves and whether the planned intervention corresponds to the child’s intent, as well as
8. whether the consulting person with a variant of sexual development involved in accordance with subsection (4) sentence 6 supports the favourable opinion.
The opinion must be signed by all members of the interdisciplinary committee.
(6) The treating party defined in section 630a is to keep the medical record, if treatment was performed on the internal or external genitalia, up until the day on which the person treated attains the age of 48.