Importance of multidisciplinary work

Depending on the time at which you learn about your child`s condition, you might face a number of medical and psychological issues that you may never have heard of before. You may even find that your family doctor will not have answers to all of your concerns.

A multidisciplinary team (MDT) for DSD can help you understand the diagnosis and guide you through any intervention that might be needed.  It should include a pediatric endocrinologist, a child psychologist, and a urologist. Other disciplines may also be involved, such as a person specialized in investigating genetic findings or a gynaecologist. These experts piece together different aspects of the DSD in order to help you understand which type of intervention, if any, may be the right one for your child. This will help you to provide truly informed consent to these interventions.

A specialized MDT needs to liaise with the family doctor to ensure that the information is well communicated. If no contact has been made yet with a MDT, the family doctor may help to find a centre that ensures multidisciplinary care.