Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

It really isn’t quite that simple. There are Intersex people who have ambiguous genitalia and there are several viable chromosome combos besides XX and XY.



In sexually dimorphic mammalian species sex is most commonly by the ability to produce either the small or big gametes, not chromosomes.

In humans syndromes that lead to ambiguous (“intersex”) presentation and/or chromosomes are still operating in a binary system, eh Klinefelter affects boys.

The same is true for (very) rare hermaphroditism: in this case both gametes could in theory be produced, in practice though individuals are sterile.


Those are birth defects though. For instance, we still understand humans as being bipedal despite anomalies that prevent a tiny fraction of humans from being bipedal.


`XXY` is a valid combination of sex chromosomes. The person has two `X` chromosomes so is female. The person also has one `Y` chromosome so is male. Which sex is the person? Is it a birth defect?


The term “birth defect” fell out of use because of its stigmatizing word construction.

Chromosomal abnormalities would be the modern term, it applies to both sexual as well as other chromosomal abnormalities like Down.

But to answer the question as asked: Yes, it fulfills the definition of the older term.


XXY is Klinefelter syndrome. By definition it's a condition where boys and men are born with an extra X chromosome. Their sex is male because, also by definition, the presence of a Y chromosome means male.


  > Is it a birth defect?
Yes.


[flagged]


Stop what?

Using accurate information? Not ignoring the complexities of the world?

That comment is absolutely correct; to make things more confusing, people whose sex appears female can turn out to have XY allosomes in some, or all[0], of their cells.

0: https://www.invitra.com/en/morris-syndrome/


From your own link Morris syndrome affects males. In fact, the presence of a Y chromosome by definition means the person is of male sex and it really is as simple as that. One's appearance has no effect on their sex.


As the article you’ve linked states this syndrome affects males, makes them resistant to androgens, so they have an appearance of females.

It doesn’t state anywhere that the patients are either female or belong to a novel category.




Join us for AI Startup School this June 16-17 in San Francisco!

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: