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FOR the first 17 years of Sydney's life, she was "raised as a girl" - but during puberty Sydney started to experience symptoms that she now knows were signs that she was actually born intersex. At 15 years old, Sydney went to see the doctor, as she was struggling with "severe cystic acne". Test results showed "heightened levels of androgens, or what are sometimes called male hormones" and Sydney's doctor prescribed hormone treatment "to make [her] 'normal'." The treatment did work on her acne but, just two years later, Sydney was back at the doctors again after discovering that she had no vaginal opening. She remembers how the gynaecologists "didn't really believe [her]" until they looked for themselves - at which point they agreed, with Sydney, to operate and create a vagina for her. While Sydney was happy with the outcome of the surgery, she does "wish that the word 'intersex' had been uttered" - it was only in her "early twenties", as Sydney immersed herself in her local queer community, that she learned her true identity. Since then, Sydney has taken to TikTok and created "a new community for [herself]" where she educates others and raises awareness of what it means to be intersex. Trolls have accused Sydney of being "a liar" - the kind of ignorance that causes her mom, Dana, to "worry about [Sydney's] safety". But in the face of everything, Sydney is defiant: "The best way that I can battle the difficulties that I face is to continue to educate others... Biological sex is not binary and I am living proof of that."

Follow Sydney on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sydneykidneybean
Follow Sydney on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sydneykidneybean

Videographer: Jake Kuwana
Producers: Tom Buckman, Georgia Embling, Hannah Beaugeard
Editor: Dalene Low