Intersex
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Intersex individuals display genetic, and sometimes physical, signs of both male and female sexes. Intersex is not to be confused with transgender or transsexual individuals because their condition is not a result of personal choice or expression. Intersex people are born with sexual characteristics of both males and females. These variations in sex organs cannot be attributed to a single cause, although hormonal variations during pregnancy, genetic mutations during development, and environmental toxins are sometimes associated with the development of intersex characteristics. In our society, most intersex infants undergo hormonal and surgical treatment so that they can appear fully male or female. Despite these treatments and the fact that these intersex conditions are not always physically identifiable, intersex individuals are often confronted with gender identity issues, ridicule from peers, and fertility problems. Intersex individuals are not "freaks," and should not be stigmatized as a result of their condition. Instead, intersex individuals should be treated with the same respect as everyone else. |  |
Many specific types of intersex disorders have been identified in the medical field, but only three major categories are typically identified: Ovo-testes, Male Pseudohermaphrodites, and Female Pseudohermaphrodites.
Ovo-Testes (True Hermaphrodites)
The category of intersex disorders now referred to as "ovo-testes" was formerly named "true hermaphroditism." Persons afflicted with ovo-testes have a combination of typically male and female sexual organs. There are a variety of ways in which this syndrome may present itself, but in most cases, one of the gonads is functional and will determine the secondary sexual characteristics of the individual. External sexual organs can display a mixture of male and female characteristics, or may be dominated by only one sex.
Male Pseudohermaphrodites
Persons with male internal sexual organs and female external sexual organs who are chromosomally male (XY) are referred to as male pseudohermaphrodites.
Female Pseudohermaphrodites
PPersons who are chromosomally female (XX) and have female internal sexual organs (but male external organs) are known as female pseudohermaphrodites.