 | This article needs more reliable medical references for verification or relies too heavily on primary sources. (August 2024) |  |
| Intersex topics |
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Various criteria have been offered for the definition of intersex, including ambiguous genitalia, atypical genitalia, and differential sexual development. Ambiguous genitalia occurs in roughly 0.05% of all births, usually caused by masculinization or feminization during pregnancy, these conditions range from full androgen insensitivity syndrome to ovotesticular syndrome.
1.7% of people are born with a disorder of sexual development as defined by the DSD consortium, such as those with Klinefelter's syndrome. The DSD was specifically made to be as inclusive to all atypical sexual development; not all conditions within the DSD affect individuals to the same extent.
There can also be a stricter definition,[clarification needed] specifically for ambiguous DSD. This definition is restricted to those conditions in which typical chromosomal categorization patterns is inconsistent with phenotypic sex, or in which the phenotype is not easily classifiable as either male or female," with the prevalence of about 0.018%.[1]
Most intersex activism is based around the end of unnecessary medical interventions on intersex youth which attempt to assign an arbitrary sex and gender binary, often causing physical harm with no input from the child. Intersex conditions are usually expanded to include the DSD more generally.[2] 0.05% of births are medically treated or considered to have ambiguous genitalia.[3]
The exact cut-off point between male and female in an intersex context is largely arbitrary. Likewise, the definition of biological sex is also sometimes considered to be arbitrary; as an example, some individuals with XY female (SRY inactivation) may have a uterus, ovaries, and normal menstruation, and be able to achieve pregnancy.[4][5] These individuals would be declared to be biologically female but karyotypically male. Likewise, many intersex individuals are born completely sterile, although medical interventions have been known to remove potentially fertile gonads, which makes sex determination often arbitrary. Individuals with XX male develop male genitalia but are entirely infertile due to a lack of SRY gene expression and develop a generally feminine body. This range of possibilities is further expanded by conditions which effect genital development but not hormonal or sex gene expression. Generally, most intersex advocates, as well as parts of the medical community, advocate for broadening the definitions of sexual development and the definition of intersex.[6]
- ^ "How Common is Intersex? An Explanation of the Stats. – Intersex Campaign for Equality". www.intersexequality.com. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
- ^ Wilson, Bruce E.; Reiner, William G. (December 1998). "Management of Intersex: A Shifting Paradigm". The Journal of Clinical Ethics. 9 (4): 360–369. doi:10.1086/JCE199809404. PMID 10029837. S2CID 27104390.
- ^ "Variation in Sex Characteristics". www.healthit.gov. Archived from the original on 2023-05-14. Retrieved 2023-05-14.
- ^ Dumic, M.; Lin-Su, K.; Leibel, N. I.; Ciglar, S.; Vinci, G.; Lasan, R.; Nimkarn, S.; Wilson, J. D.; McElreavey, K.; New, M. I. (2007). "Report of Fertility in a Woman with a Predominantly 46,XY Karyotype in a Family with Multiple Disorders of Sexual Development - PMC". The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. 93 (1): 182–189. doi:10.1210/jc.2007-2155. PMC 2190741. PMID 18000096.
- ^ Selvaraj, Kamala; Ganesh, Vijaya; Selvaraj, Priya (August 2002). "Successful pregnancy in a patient with a 46,XY karyotype". Fertility and Sterility. 78 (2): 419–420. doi:10.1016/S0015-0282(02)03242-9. PMID 12137885.
- ^ Dreger, Alice D.; Herndon, April M. (2009). "Progress and Politics in the Intersex Rights Movement: Feminist Theory in Action". GLQ. 15 (2): 199–224. doi:10.1215/10642684-2008-134. S2CID 145754009. Project MUSE 261479.