A man born with both male and female sex organs has told how adults often asked him the same “creepy” question growing up.
Roshaante Anderson is intersex, a term used to describe people with genitals, chromosomes or reproductive organs that don’t fit into a male or female sex binary. Their genitals might not match their reproductive organs or they may have traits of both.
He was born with a vagina and a female appearance, but discovered he was intersex at the age of 11 after doctors found his inverted testicles during an ultrasound while investigating abdominal pain. At that point, Roshaante said “everything made sense”.
While he was growing up, there was little information about intersex people and Roshaante assumed he was just a normal kid. But when puberty hit, he began to notice a difference and says he started to feel alienated.
Roshaante explained that his parents allowed people to call him “he”, but in certain social situations they would also refer to him as a girl. He wore boys’ clothes and his says parents weren’t pushy in enforcing gender roles.
Roshaante Anderson said he compared himself to a Domino Pizza when he was growing up
However, he’s recalled a range of awkward encounters with adults. Describing his childhood, Roshaante told YouTube show People are Deep: “I was born with inverted testicles and I had a micro penis and also a vagina hole from birth. I’ve always compared myself to a Domino’s pizza – half and half. That’s basically how I felt when I had both a penis and a vagina.”
He added: “I came across loads of different comments from my friends’ parents and stuff like that all the time. They would constantly [ask]: ‘Do you sit down or do you stand up to go toilet?’ I’m just like, listen, relax, I’m a kid, stop asking me all these questions. You’re sexualising me in a way. It’s a bit creepy.
“I didn’t feel uncomfortable at the time but when I think about it now, I’m like, you put up with way too much, man. You should have told them get lost and mind your own business.”
Roshaante said: “Never have I ever felt a way about myself at all. I’m in love with myself and I feel like I’ve got good reason to be as well. I’m unique, I’m an individual who knows exactly what they want.”
He decided to have surgery on his sexual organs and spent nearly £80,000 to have a fully functioning extra penis grafted from skin on his arm. Doctors then lengthened his urethra and inserted an erectile device so that he was able to have sex.
He told Channel 4’s Skin Deep series that “this scar was given to me from having phalloplasty”, pointing to his forearm.
“Phalloplasty is basically a surgical procedure where they remove fat, muscle, arteries, veins, skin, from the arm to sculpt a penis. Then after they’ve sculpted a penis and everything, it’s left without a penis head for about a year or two, which means that you have a dong with no penis head”, Roshaante added.
He also revealed that he starting dating a 24-year-old girl when he was just 16 and she was 24, before one of her mates took a shine to him and tried it on. Describing his universal appeal, he said: “Men and women both love me – straight, lesbian, gay, bi, anything.”
He describes himself as pansexual, meaning he’s capable of being attracted to anyone regardless of their sex, gender, or race. Back in 2018, though, Roshaante went through a “sapiosexual” phase and was deeply attracted to people’s minds and thought processes.
Roshaante has previously said he wasn’t “allowed” to change in the girls’ school facilities because his clitoris “was like a very small d**k”, adding that it was a “constant battle”. Some parents would even ask him to lift up his shirt because “people didn’t believe” he was a girl.
He said: “Because of the way I am, I didn’t see it as offensive. I just saw them as dumb. Because if I’ve told you that I’m one thing, and you’re telling me that I’m not another thing and you’re 30, 35, that makes you look stupid.”