Is Caster Semenya an Intersex? – Athletics Watch

People who are experts on gender and sexuality issues have a word for what may be the condition of South African runner Caster Semenya: intersex.

According to the Intersex Society of North America, (ISNA) intersex is a “general term used for a variety of conditions in which a person is born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn’t seem to fit the typical definitions of female or male.”

Experts estimate that about about one in 5,000 babies are born with the condition. Considering that there are more than 5 billion people on earth, that would add up to a lot of people whose gender identity isn’t as clear-cut as we human beings want it to be.

Here’s some info from ISNA estimating how common intersex conditions are:

Not XX and not XY: one in 1,666 births
Klinefelter (XXY): one in 1,000 births
Androgen insensitivity syndrome: one in 13,000 births
Partial androgen insensitivity syndrome: one in 130,000 births
Classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia: one in 13,000 births
Late onset adrenal hyperplasia: one in 66 individuals
Vaginal agenesis: one in 6,000 births
Ovotestes: one in 83,000 births
Idiopathic (no discernable medical cause): one in 110,000 births
Iatrogenic (caused by medical treatment, for instance progestin administered to pregnant mother): no estimate
5 alpha reductase deficiency: no estimate
Mixed gonadal dysgenesis: no estimate
Complete gonadal dysgenesis: one in 150,000 births
Hypospadias (urethral opening in perineum or along penile shaft): one in 2,000 births
Hypospadias (urethral opening between corona and tip of glans penis): one in 770 births
Total number of people whose bodies differ from standard male or female: one in 100 births
Total number of people receiving surgery to “normalize” genital appearance: one or two in 1,000 births

We have no clue as to what those medical terms mean (hehehe) but we’re putting them up here to illustrate how common this intersex thingie can be.

Related posts:

1. Caster Semenya’s Birth Certificate: She’s a Girl! – Athletics Gender Scandal
2. Nong Youhui: Chinese Boy Can See in the Dark
3. Caster Semenya: Gender-Sex Scandal – Athletics
4. Gay Shanghai: Sights, Men, and Gay Pride
5. Dr. Jeffrey Steinberg: God of Designer Babies?