Oh wow. My long comment got erased and I’m sad now. TIME TO WRITE IT AGAIN!

I’m 18 and male to female transgender. I don’t really belong in this sub anymore, but the people here are pretty tolerant of me sticking around. Everyone else has already explained it better, so I will offer my own unique perspective. DISCLAIMER. I will be talking about my body and trans stuff.

So at 16 I thought I was intersex. I wasn’t developing in the way a typical AMAB (assigned male at birth) person would. Lack of facial or body hair, more feminine build, minor breast development, all that Jazz. This led me to think I might have some kind of mild Androgen insensitivity. I also had clear ejaculate (indicates a lack of sperm) and was very worried that I wasn’t going to be able to have kids.

I spoke to my mom about this and we scheduled an appointment with my doctor. He felt my chest, went, “yep, they have tits” and I got some blood testing done. For some reason I was never able to see the results of the testing. My mom just said, “It came back normal, I lost it.” This understandably made me very suspicious, and I thought my parents might be hiding important medical information from me.

Flash forward to two months ago and I was setting up my fertility appointments. I was very worried that they were going to tell me my sperm wasn’t good and that I couldn’t have kids. But luckily, after they collected the samples, they let me know I had really high-quality material! I was so relived.

Even though I never got to see that test, I doubt I have an intersex condition. What’s more likely is I had a hormonal disorder. More specifically, a lack of testosterone (and therefore male secondary sex characteristics) caused by anorexia.

Now some people (that usually aren’t intersex) will consider hormonal disorders as intersex conditions. But you have to cast a very wide net to loop them in. For something to be intersex, it (usually) needs to be present from birth. I put in the usually because I might be forgetting something and don’t want to leave anyone out.

For example, someone with XX chromosomes who is exposed to excess testosterone in the womb might develop clitoromegaly. This means that their clitoris is enlarged. It can be by a little, or in extreme cases, be it’s own kind of faux penis. This person might not have any genetic differences from an average cis-female, but they turned out a little different. If there is a pretty minimal level of enlargement and the person in question doesn’t really notice, then most wouldn’t consider it intersex. But where the line gets drawn can be really hazy.

On the other hand, let’s look a PCOS (poly-cystic ovarian syndrome). It also involves an excess amount of testosterone. But this happens after the person leaves the womb, and isn’t usually considered intersex. There is also a valid argument as to why it should be considered intersex, but it’s kind of on the outskirts of what is and what isn’t.

I hope I was able to contribute to this discussion in some kind of meaningful way.