Susan's Place Transgender Resources

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QuoteIn an age when gender reassignment is possible, how can anyone think that genes determine gender? It is the policy of most hospitals to run DNA tests on most, if not all, babies born in the hospital, particularly if their genitalia is unclear. Men born today with de la Chapelle's syndrome might have gender reassignment surgery within the first days of life. Their parents would have the difficult decision of deciding which gender they wanted their child to identify with for the rest of their lives. The pressure must be painful. Situations like these, ultimately, lead to increased understanding of the ambiguity of gender and other transgender issues.

So where do genetics stand in our system of determining gender? One unequal cross over during meiosis can create a man who, by conventional genetic definitions, is not a man. Small developmental mistakes can give a baby questionable genitalia. Very often the definition of gender can become murky, especially when the emotional roller-coaster of the de la Chapelle sufferer is brought into the mix.