When Chris Arnone was born in Independence, Missouri, no one could determine his sex. For the first few days of his life, until a chromosome test confirmed he was a boy, his parents called him Baby.

After years of surgeries and emergency room visits, he learned that he didn’t have birth defects, as he’d thought, but was intersex — a label he didn’t discover until he was 37. His memoir, My Name Was Baby, explores sex, gender, religion, politics, and more through the story of his struggles with anxiety, confusion, and eventual self-acceptance.

Arnone, who earned a master of fine arts in creative writing and media arts from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, talks about the challenges of growing up in the Midwest, having parents who accepted his differences, and doctors who, for the most part, did no harm.

Arnone is also an actor, poet, and author of the novel, The Hermes Protocol.