Posted on 02/18/2005 3:09:21 PM PST by srm913
It's the first question new parents hear: girl or boy? But hundreds of babies are born each year where the gender isn't clear. Prompt surgery to assign one was once the norm.
But gender depends on more than anatomy or hormones. It also seems to stem from the very earliest brain development, researchers said Friday in urging doctors to hold off on the knife until children can determine their own sex.
"To discover who or what a child is ... you have to ask them," Dr. William Reiner of the Oklahoma University Health Science Center told a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
"There is no one biological parameter that clearly defines sex," added Dr. Eric Vilain of the University of California, Los Angeles, whose research suggests gender is genetically hard-wired into the brain before birth — regardless of which genitalia develop.
The issue is "intersex," the name for numerous conditions that result in roughly one in 4,000 babies born with both male and female traits.
One of the more common is congenital adrenal hyperplasia. In such cases, genetic girls with XX chromosomes are exposed in the womb to such high levels of androgen — the hormone that triggers male development — that they appear male externally even if they have female reproductive organs. A different condition leaves genetic males less responsive to androgen during development, so they're born without a penis.
The parents must pick a gender somehow, to know what to call their child and because gender is required on a birth certificate. So specialists check non-obvious factors such as which sex chromosomes the child has and levels of sex hormones in the blood.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
And..I hope I never see it again.
She din't go on to become first lady and a senator did she ?
Maybe it's far higher than what I thought. I think this is a totally different matter than those who suddenly decide they really are of the other gender based on delusions and excess Liberalism.
In New York????
How long are they suggesting to hold off on surgery?
Sounds like the medical/psychological community is using this unfortunate medical condition to further their efforts to make homosexuality and/or transgenderism more acceptable by watering down the meaning of gender, IMHO.
Now, now Bob, just cause you were born without a d&%k don't make ya a queer. Look at John Kerry. Might make ya a freak show in the locker room but...
ROFLoL! No, sorry, too young. However, it could've explained much.
=0)
This is something that has happened behind closed doors for the longest time.
It is with such people I believe gender reassignment is a reasonable procedure. Whatever can help them be what they were born to be is understandably fine.
Maybe but I think she's orignally from Chicago area and once lived in Arkansas.
Status: Undetermined.
http://www.snopes.com/movies/actors/jamie.htm
Well, said and so very typical of how they proceed.
I'm sure it is, but I just needed to tell that story. I could elaborate more, however, it is hard to hear and even harder for me because I was there. Poor, poor baby.
Try 1 in 4000.
Folks this is good news. It used to be that Doc's would make the sex assignment determination when the child was an infant - only later to find out that they "assigned" the incorrect gender.
Early sex assignment arose in parallel to feminist dogma that promulgated the idea that gender was environmental. Meaning, if you were raised as a boy you would grow into to a boy. This concept was a pillar of feminism.
Of course they were wrong.
Klinefelter's syndrome -- A condition in which a genetic male actually has one or more extra X chromosomes (XXY, XXXY). The individual appears anatomically male but would not be male according to XY=boy formula. Neither could such a person impregnate a female, being sterile.
Turner's syndrome-- Condition in which an individual has one X and no Y chromosome, thus they are neither an XY male or a XX female. In addition, the gonads degenerate before birth. In most respects the person will be anatomically female, however without hormone treatment their will be no secondary sexual characteristics.
Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (or adrenogenital syndrome) -- In this genetically influenced condition the adrenal glands produce an excess of androgens in utero. Children who would be classed as female by both their genes (XX) and their gonads (ovarian) will have masculine appearing genitals, to a varying degrees. They will also, statistically, have an increased liklihood of forming romantic relationships with women as adults.
Androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS, or testicular feminization) -- With AIS, a fetus which is genetically male (XY chromosomes) has receptors which are unresponsive to testosterone and so is born as a female -- at least outwardly. However there is no female reproductive tract.
Partial AIS: -- Individuals with partial AIS, will appear feminine at birth, but because they have only a reduced sensitivity to androgens, they may suddenly at puberty develop a more male presentation. The clitoris with enlarge to become a small penis. The voice will drop. Testes will descend. Eventually chest and facial hair may develop.
Mayer-Rokitansky-Kustur-Hauser syndrome -- A condition in which the body of a genetic female does not develop a vagina, cervix, uterus or fallopian tubes. Vaginal agenesis -- A generic condition in which the vagina does not develop -- for a variety of reasons, including MRKH syndrome.
Cloacal exstrophy -- This is a severe congenital malformation of pelvis which can include a male being born without a penis. Even when surgically reconstructed as a girl, males born with cloacal exstrophy generally develop a male identity.
Hypospadias -- A penis is designated hypospadic if the urethral meatus (or pee hole) is located somewhere other than the traditional location -- i.e. the tip of the penis. Instead the hole is located at the base of the penis or somewhere along the shaft. It is a condition which intensifies genital confusion. In that, it causes the penis to resemble a hypertrophic (enlarged) clitoris, making it hard to decide if the individual is a male-appearing female, or a female-appearing male.
Presumably, your fetal development was normal. There are some mishaps in nature. Typically, people are sympathetic to those with a physical deformity. Imagine, after a story on cleft palate, if you would say, "What's wrong with these folks? I ain't got no holes in my face!" Of course, you would NEVER say such a thing.
This has nothing to do with physically normal people believing they really are a different gender.
This is a very sad situation when it happens. I know it's good for a snicker and people are having fun with it but it's just as sad as any other physical deformity that happens in the womb. When you think of all the complex things that have to occur to make us who we are over 9 months, there are a lot of things that can and do go wrong in that process. This particular set of abnormalities just happens to effect one of the basics of human identity... gender. When gender is unclear at birth, it's a complex and upsetting situation for everyone and a likely lifetime of confusion and despair for the child.
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