How Many Sexes?

It's a scientific fact that humans come in two varieties––XX for females and XY for males. And it’s also a scientific fact that there are variations to the norm…

1. You can be born legally male with an X and a Y chromosome, but your body is insensitive to androgens, and you appear female. Androgen insensitivity syndrome is a condition that affects sexual development before birth and during puberty.

   
   

2. You can be born legally male with an X and a Y chromosome, and have a penis and testes, and a uterus and fallopian tubes. This is another form of androgen insensitivity syndrome.

3. You can be born legally male with an X and a Y chromosome, but your Y chromosome is missing the SRY gene, which gives you a female body. This is a condition known as Swyer syndrome. 

4. You can be born legally female with two X chromosomes, but one of the Xs has an SRY gene, which gives you a male body. This is another form of Swyer syndrome.

5. You can be born legally female with two X chromosomes - and also a Y chromosome, which gives you a male body. This child would be "intersex", another form of Swyer syndrome.

6. You can be born appearing female, but have a 5-alpha reductase deficiency and grow a penis at age 12. Medically, this condition is known as 5-alpha reductase deficiency.

   
   

7. You can be born legally female with two X chromosomes, but your adrenal gland doesn't produce enough cortisol, and your body develops as a male. This is a condition known as X-linked adrenal hypoplasia congenita and affects the development of the adrenal glands.

   
   

8. You can be born with both XX chromosomes and XY chromosomes. Medically, this is known as chimerism.

   
   

So when babies are born looking different and puberty causes unexpected changes, should they undergo surgical adjustment to fit political and religious two-gender norms? This is science, people–biological diversity. Science isn’t perfect, and what’s more, our understanding of the human brain is severely limited.

Who knows how many more variations there might be? 

Nobody–not you, not me, and certainly not Donald Trump or the pastor of your church.

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