My Name Was Baby: An Intersex Memoir by Chris M. Arnone
$29.99
A candid and deeply personal memoir about growing up intersex in the American Midwest, navigating identity, masculinity, and self-acceptance. Chris M. Arnone shares an inspiring journey that sheds light on an often-overlooked part of the LGBTQIA+ experience.
Description
When Chris Arnone was born in Independence, Missouri, doctors could not immediately determine his sex. For the first few days of his life, before chromosome testing identified him as male, his parents simply called him “Baby.” It was the beginning of a life marked by questions, medical interventions, and a persistent feeling of being different.
Growing up, Chris faced a series of surgeries, hospital visits, confusing health explanations, and the challenge of understanding a body that never seemed to fit the expectations presented by society. Yet despite these experiences, it would take decades before he learned a truth that would transform his understanding of himself: he was intersex.
In My Name Was Baby, Arnone offers a rare and powerful perspective on identity, belonging, and self-discovery. Through stories that are by turns humorous, heartbreaking, and deeply insightful, he explores life as an intersex man navigating the expectations of masculinity in the American heartland. Along the way, he reflects on family, faith, politics, sexuality, relationships, and the complicated process of learning to embrace who he truly is.
Unlike many narratives shaped by secrecy or shame, Arnone’s story also highlights the support he received from accepting parents and medical professionals who often sought to help rather than harm. His memoir reveals the many ways intersex experiences can be both unique and universally relatable, touching on themes familiar to LGBTQIA+ readers and anyone who has struggled to understand their place in the world.
Written with honesty, vulnerability, and wit, My Name Was Baby is both a personal memoir and a powerful call for greater understanding of intersex lives. It is a story about self-acceptance, resilience, and the freedom that comes from finally naming yourself on your own terms.
Book Details
- Author: Chris M. Arnone
- Foreword: Alicia Roth Weigel
- ISBN: 9780700643523
- Format: Hardcover
- Genre: Memoir, LGBTQIA+ Nonfiction
- Subject: Intersex Identity, Gender, Sexuality, Self-Discovery
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