Irene Kuzemko

Irene Kuzemko (; ), also transcribed from Ukrainian and Russian as Irina Kuzemko, is a Russian-Ukrainian intersex woman and intersex human rights activist. She co-founded Intersex Russia in 2017, is a youth member of interACT, and an executive board member of OII Europe.

Early life

Kuzemko was born in 1993 in Lviv, Ukraine She was unaware of any difference in her body until puberty when her body failed to menstruate or grow breasts, and she was unaware of this possibility. Kuzemko was sent to Moscow aged 15 for medical treatment. She describes being left in the corridor while discussions about her body took place without her being present, and her father telling her she had "something wrong with [her] ovaries". Kuzemko describes this moment as like "winning the jackpot" because she learned that other people with similar experiences existed. She have expressed concern about linking intersex and LGBT rights at a time of violence against LGBT people in Russia,

She co-founded Intersex Russia in 2017 She speaks internationally and contributes to work developing resources, and promoting sexual and reproductive rights.

Selected bibliography