Gender Change, is it ethical?

(Cartoons relevant to subject matter, children having their sex changed, in the left the little girl has the desire to be a boy, on the right the mother looks angry at the doctor for changing the sex of her child as an infant)

I am considering a passage from the reading, "Impossible Hermaphrodites: Intersex in America, 1620-1960" written by Elizabeth Reis. Although the whole journal article was very compelling, I felt most moved by the section of the journal entry relating to changing the gender of children. Found on page 414 from the reading, a quote to engage in is, "Once their bodies were surgically shaped to approximate typical male or (usually) female figures, the children would develop personalities happily matched to their assigned sex, Money claimed, if the assignments were supported by proper rearing and a parental commitment to the chosen gender. Money was wrong. Many children thus altered never felt at home in their assigned sex." This section reviews how gender change in children at such a young age has not only serious consequences medically but also mentally. I found it meaningful because it could happen to anyone and it just really made me think more in depth about the fact of "hermaphrodites".

After reading this section from the passage I personally was confused on how to feel about gender change in children. John Money, the doctor who pretty much reached the highest most advanced point in gender change, states in the section that gender identity was "malleable", or in other words changeable, until the child is eighteen months of age. To me this made sense, since at 18 months of age a child is only a little over a year old; they aren't too sure of what is going on...how would they know, remember, or care if they had their gender changed? However, the passage conveyed a point that once the sex of a child is changed, it is irreversible, and many children who have this procedure done are unhappy in their bodies later in life. Also, the surgical procedure risks "sensation, fertility, continence, comfort, and life", and for what reason? The reason to "fit in" to society.. there is certainly no medical reason behind removing genitals to make the child more healthy. The same paragraph also made a point about the child's happiness as an adult once they find out what had happened to them when they had the sex change. Apparently in some cases, when the child grows up and their parents finally explain to them what happened, they decide to change their gender (again), or they develop a deep sense of shame in who they are because of how society treats people with such gender "differences". Here is a medical example of this. Once I had read that part my opinion started changing.
All of this information relates directly to the binary system of gender we have as a society. People and doctors would not be as inclined to change children's sex at such a young age, or even at all, if our society could handle the fact that there are more than 2 genders, and that one out of 2000 people are born with a "questionable gender status". This brings me back to my original thought on the subject matter of this paragraph: is it ethical to change the gender of such a young child? Whose decision is it, the parents? And at that point in life is it their decision to make. Later in life is it even ethical for a person to go through gender change, if we as a society are trying to bring more awareness about it. I personally struggle trying to find an opinion on the subject matter because I understand being placed in the shoes of someone who has gender differences, I would feel very uncomfortable about the whole thing. However, I do strongly believe that as a society we need to take steps in changing gender from being a binary term, and I think that not changing the gender of those born with a "questionable" gender should surgically change it.