Intersex: I am not Disordered, I am Human
By Sophia Siedlberg
8-25-08, 9:36 am
http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/7302/Editor's note: Sophia Siedlberg is a geneticist and the U.K. spokesperson for the Organization Intersex International.
Recently, I read an article in which Amy Hinton was discussing her work as an intersex activist. I found myself needing to respond to a few of her points.
The main issue for me is how a lot of intersex variations (I prefer to use "intersex variations" instead of "DSD" [ed. note: disorders of sex development]) seem to be underrepresented in the media. Often the discussion seems to be about Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome, not that there is anything wrong with that, but for some reason the discussion goes into genetics, with the statement: "They are women with male DNA." or "They are women with male chromosomes." The first statement is untrue. In genetics there are "Male Specific Regions," some of which do lie on the X and Y chromosomes. But what needs to be understood is that there are more MSRs and also more genes that are involved in sex differentiation in the autosomes, that is, in the other chromosomes. In the case of AIS the gene involved that codes for Androgen Receptors does however lie on the X chromosome, but in a sense this illustrates the point – "Male DNA" on a "Female Chromosome." It does not make much sense when you talk of "Male" and "Female" DNA.
