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The definition of intersexed depends on who you ask Feb. 13th, 2005 6:47pm
I know I may not be welcome here, but after reading and watching this debate evolve I must chime in. And I will do so as briefly and respectfully as possible.
*MY* definition of intersexed is simple, if the Dr or the nurse, or the parent doesn't know what they are looking at when it comes time for the girl/boy annocment then the child must be intersexed. It can't get much simpler than that. Once a diagnosis is made THEN you can say the person has condition X,Y, Z and go from there. Alot of people lay persons and medical professionals alike like to include things like genes, chromosomes, gonads in their definitions, which add to the confusion because NONE of those things are visible to the naked eye at the moment of birth, which is the reason testing leading to diagnosis is then an order.
The word itself intersexed should be tossed to the way side. I have found out that there are lots of conditions that are NOT officially classified as intersexed, but can be in extreme conditions when the underlying condition cause the external genitalia to appear intersexed. Hypospadias is a good example in it's sever form, which is also rare. And I guess in that context you can include CAH, which in its rare and sever form can create external genitalia that don't appear either male or female.
And the funny thing to me is that there are conditions OFFICIALLY classified as intersexed but in their sever form the external genitals appear normal. Complete AIS, and Klinfelters syndrome are good examples of that. One person stated she preferred pseudo hermaphrodite over intersexed. That I can agree with being that that term is more accurate. But there are people who are sensitive about the root word hermaphrodite which carries as much confused meaning as the word intersexed. I am actually most comfortable with ambiguous genitalia because it is both accurate and politically correct.
As a final note I have two questions. From time to time a male child is born with a condition or anomaly that severely impairs the development of their manhood. These children are often times (not all the time but most of the time) undergo surgery to make then females and they are raised as such. Are they intersexed??? since as a result of surgery their phenotype and their genotype don't match. Are they trans sexuals as one person commented. Even though these individuals had no choice in the matter.
And my last comment, this post also sparked a small debate or discussion, penis vs clitoris. Penis and clitoris are labels (like everything else) to aid in denoting man or woman, male or female, boy or girl. If you were to look at the structures anatomically, you will find their is NO ROOT DIFFERENCE, the only difference they possess is the result of androgens. A penis contains the urethra, a clitoris does not, that is the only anatomical difference. The fact that a penis is normally associated with an XY individual and a clitoris with an XX individual re enforces the male/female labels already established since the dawn of time.
you may ask how did I come to this conclusion, answer: because micro penis is still called a penis even though it may not be much bigger than the average clitoris, but a newborn female may have an enlarged clitoris just as big as a micro penis, but it is still called a clitoris, albeit enlarged. In each case their is alot of guilt by association (scrotum and testicles means it must be a penis even if it tiny. Or labia and vagina are present so it must be a clitoris even if it is large.) But ANATOMICALLY speaking there is no difference between the two other than the urethra.
