Kenya will become the first African country to recognize its intersex population in a census on Saturday that counts people born with a sexual anatomy that does not fit typical definitions for male or female bodies, according to a top official. The census will help end stigma and recognize the rights of intersex people who face challenges in accessing healthcare and education, said Kenya’s Senator for Persons with Disabilities Isaac Mwaura. “We have no numbers – yet we know this is a highly stigmatized issue. It is very germane that intersex persons are going to be counted for the first time in this country,” Mwaura told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an interview on Tuesday. As many as 1.7 percent of all children are born intersex – with reproductive organs, genitals, hormones or chromosomes that do not fit the usual expectations of male and female, according to the United Nations.