Exploring the basic biology of eight congenital conditions of sex development.
Fascinating playlist covering DSDs - Disorders/Differences in Sexual Development - which are often collapsed down into the single umbrella term “intersex.”
“The term ‘intersex’ is often used in conversations about identity. But not many understand the biology.
For this multi-part series, we’ll be exploring the biology of eight intersex conditions. How each develops in the womb, how it may be diagnosed, and how it may impact the individuals who experience it.”
Klinefelter Syndrome
Turner Syndrome
Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome (MRKH)
Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia
Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome
Swyer Syndrome
5-alpha reductase deficiency
Ovotesticular Disorder
Anyone who’s never heard of the above terms before, or doesn’t know the difference between any of them, probably shouldn’t be lecturing anyone about how many sexes there are.
Intersex:
is not an identity.
does not change the two mutually antagonistic developmental endpoints, male and female.
is not an endpoint or “third” sex in itself.
is a range of multiple conditions that vary in cause, nature, effect and prevalence.
does not prevent the sex of the overwhelming majority of intersex individuals from being trivially and correctly identified.
represents a range of atypical developmental pathways to sex - that is, the ways the sexual structures develop - not atypical sexes.
is not hermaphroditism, either simultaneous or sequential; there are no hermaphroditic humans.
has literally nothing whatsoever to do with trans.
“Understanding a DSD can be complicated, as can getting to grips with our sex.
This is not because we’re ‘not male or female,’ but because the journey of how we got there, our development, was a little bit different to most other people.”
-- @intersexfacts
“Identity is not what defines intersex: intersex is contingent on innate physical bodily characteristics. Intersex is not a gender identity because it is a matter of sex.“
-- Intersex Human Rights Australia
Stop using people with DSDs as pawns in stupid Queer Theory pseudoscience identity politics.
