Channel 4 Documentary Exposes Intersex Surgery Scandal

On January 20, 2026, Channel 4 unveiled a documentary that has already begun to stir debate and reflection in the UK and beyond. The Secret of Me, directed by Grace Hughes-Hallett—best known for her work on Three Identical Strangers—tells the harrowing, deeply personal story of Jim Ambrose, a 50-year-old intersex activist from Louisiana whose life was forever altered by decisions made for him before he could speak a word.

Jim’s journey, as captured by the documentary, began under a different name and identity. Born in Baton Rouge in 1976, Jim was raised as Kristi, a girl, in a conservative and predominantly Christian community. According to The Independent, the film opens with friends and family recalling Kristi’s childhood, but quickly reveals that Kristi and Jim are one and the same. "I know what you’re thinking," Jim says to the camera. "‘This is a transgender story.’ But it’s not."

Jim was born with male chromosomes and atypical genitalia. On the advice of a local doctor, his parents agreed to surgery to create female-appearing genitals. Dr. Richard Carter, the now-retired surgeon who performed the operation, admits in the documentary, "It was a purely anatomical decision." He explains that, at the time, it was considered easier to "make" a clitoris than a penis. The decision, intended to simplify Jim’s life, instead set the stage for decades of secrecy, confusion, and trauma.

Jim’s parents raised him as a girl, never disclosing the truth about his body. The absence of information led to a childhood marked by discomfort and questions. As reported by Mail Online, Jim’s mother told him at 13 that he would need to start taking medication to develop breasts, so he could "look like other girls." This was just one of many attempts to "feminize" him as his physical differences became more apparent and, inevitably, the subject of ridicule among peers.

The revelation of Jim’s true identity came at 19, during a feminist studies course in college. There, he encountered a textbook description of intersex people and, as he recounts in the film, thought, "I think this is about me." He confronted his parents, who finally admitted the truth. The emotional fallout was immense. In an archival interview, his mother recalls, "She was real angry towards us." The anger, confusion, and sense of betrayal were compounded by the realization that the surgery he underwent as a baby had removed his testes—what Jim describes as "genital mutilation" and "unconscious child abuse," according to Metro.

The documentary does not shy away from the pain and anguish caused by these irreversible decisions. Jim describes the physical and psychological impact of the surgery in graphic detail, highlighting the lifelong consequences. After leaving home at 20 and moving to San Francisco, Jim immersed himself in the queer community and met others with similar experiences, eventually becoming a dedicated intersex activist. When he stopped taking estrogen, doctors warned him that he would develop osteoporosis. He began testosterone therapy, and his body underwent another dramatic transformation—his voice deepened, and he developed facial and body hair, as if his body was trying to reclaim its lost identity.

Jim’s story is far from unique. As Big Issue explains, intersex is an umbrella term describing people born with sex traits or reproductive anatomy that do not fit typical definitions of male or female. This can involve chromosomes, internal or external genitalia, or hormones. The intersex community is estimated to comprise 1.7% of the global population, with more than a million Brits believed to have some variation in their sex characteristics. Intersex traits have been recognized throughout history, with UK laws from as early as 940AD and major world religions acknowledging the existence of people whose bodies are not strictly male or female.

Despite this long history, the treatment of intersex children remains fraught with controversy. In both the US and UK, as of 2026, there are no laws prohibiting surgery on intersex infants with parental consent, according to the 2017 Medical Law Review. The British government admitted in 2019 that it did not know how many intersex children had undergone such surgeries in the NHS. These procedures, which aim to "normalize" genital appearance, are not medically necessary and can have lifelong, irreversible effects. Many in the intersex community, including Jim, have characterized them as a "global medical scandal."

Grace Hughes-Hallett, the documentary’s director, was first drawn to the topic after her brother, a urology surgeon, told her about adult patients seeking help to reverse surgeries performed on them as babies. She describes the process of reaching out to Jim as "nerve-wracking," acknowledging the trauma involved in revisiting these memories. "It’s really gruelling doing the kind of activism he does, because he’s been doing it for decades, and people still aren’t listening and that’s pretty exhausting," she told Metro.

One of the film’s most powerful moments is a rare on-camera meeting between Jim and Dr. Carter, the surgeon who operated on him as an infant. For Jim, Dr. Carter had become a kind of "bogeyman"—the embodiment of a system that had failed him. The meeting, which Jim undertook with the weight of his community on his shoulders, was unexpectedly cathartic. Dr. Carter listened to Jim’s story, offering a measure of relief, though the scars—both physical and emotional—remain.

The documentary also traces the origins of these practices to the work of Dr. John Money, a psychologist in the 1960s whose theories about gender plasticity influenced generations of surgeons. Money’s most infamous experiment involved David Reimer, a boy whose botched circumcision led Money to advise raising him as a girl. "Don’t let her think that she was ever a boy," Money told Reimer’s parents. Despite Money’s public claims of success, those who worked with him knew the truth: the experiment was a failure, and Reimer’s life ended in tragedy. Yet, as The Independent notes, Money’s theories still appear in medical textbooks, and "corrective" surgeries for intersex children continue in most countries.

Jim’s activism and the documentary itself seek to educate the public, medical professionals, and policymakers about the realities of intersex lives. Hughes-Hallett hopes the film will reach "a new generation of doctors, nurses, midwives [and] policymakers, because it’s in their hands to end these surgeries and protect babies like Jim from the harm that they do." The struggle for recognition and rights is ongoing, especially as debates over transgender healthcare have inadvertently shone a spotlight on intersex issues. In the US, the Movement Advancement Project found that at least 81% of bills restricting trans healthcare between 2020 and 2023 included exemptions for controversial treatments on intersex infants.

Ultimately, The Secret of Me offers a deeply personal lens on a subject that affects more people than many realize, exposing the secrecy, shame, and trauma that can accompany intersex lives. Hughes-Hallett believes the story’s universality—its exploration of family, identity, and the search for truth—will resonate widely. As the documentary becomes available to stream on Channel 4, it invites viewers to reflect on how much remains to be done to ensure dignity and autonomy for all.