Medical

treatment for
intersex
Ideally, a team of health care professionals
with expertise in intersex should work
together to understand and treat the child
with intersex -- and to understand, counsel,
and support the entire family.
Parents should understand controversies and
changes in treating intersex in recent years.
In the past, the prevailing opinion was that it
was generally best to assign a gender as
quickly as possible, often based on the
external genitals.Prompt surgery was often
recommended.
More recently, the opinion of many experts
has shifted. Other factors may be more
important in gender satisfaction than
functioning external genitals. Chromosomal,
neural, hormonal, psychological, and
behavioral factors can all influence gender
identity.
Many experts now urge delaying definitive
surgery for as long as healthy, and ideally
involving the child in the gender decision.

"Intersex." National Library of

Medicine. Accessed February 6,
2015.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/
ency/article/001669.htm.

"Intersex." National Library of Medicine.

Accessed February 6, 2015.

Everything you need to know about

intersex
Citation and reference

Think you know enough about intersex? Read this brochure to find out more!

Intersex is a general term

used for a variety of conditions
in which a person is born with
a
reproductive
or
sexual
anatomy that doesnt seem to

1. 46, XX Male (Sex Reversal

Syndrome):
This is a chromosomal variation
that
is
sometimes
mistaken,
initially, for Klinefelter Syndrome.
People with this problem have a
fragment of a Y chromosome with
the "SRY testicular determining
factor" translocated in their system.
This causes the otherwise genetic
female to develop physically as a
male. 15% of those with this
problem have undescended testes,
10% exhibit hypospadias. Generally
46, XX Males are shorter than
Klinefelter males, but similarly
display a lack of spermatogenisis
(frequency unknown).
[source: The Andrology Handbook,
American Society of Andrology
1995. full text]
Figures for occurrence vary. One
study cited that 1 in 5000 births
has "full sex reversal," with "partial
sex reversal" accounting for 1 in
1000 births. [source: Reaney,
Patricia "Gene for human sex
reversal
syndrome
identified,"
February
18,
1998
Reuters]

5. AIS (46, XY Female)

Until about 10 weeks of
development in the womb, male
and female embryos appear
identical in external anatomy. the
same structures then begin to
differentiate as male under the
influence of testosterone, or as
female if the influence of
testosterone is absent. In the
presence of intermediate amounts
of androgens - or partial
insensitivity to the effects - the
external genitals may develop in
an "in-between" way. Androgen
Insensitivity Syndrome is often
abbreviated as AIS and is caused
by a genetic error in the
Androgen Recptor (AR) gene on
the X chromosome. People with
AIS have a male karyotype of 46,
XY but may not develop a male
phenotype.
There are two general categories
for the "complete" and "partial"
versions of AIS:
Complete Androgen Insensitivity
Syndrome (CAIS) - the most
pronounced form of the condition
where the person's body is almost
completely uninfluenced by
androgens. Also sometimes called
"Testicular Feminization
Syndrome."
In CAIS there will still be no
ovaries, fallopian tubes or uterus,
and the vagina will be blindending and possibly short or
absent. Female pubertal
development occurs but there will
be no menstruation and no