Well, one good thing came out of my recent debacle. Last Friday, after Prayer, the Sheik in charge of my Masjid wanted to see me. This is like the fourth time I have been called into some Muslim Man's office in four years, and I was prepared to hear the worst.
He quickly surprised me, and told me that he was extremely sorry about what had happened to me and that he was going to have a talk with my tormentor. He asked me if I had ever been Karyotyped, but when I told him no, he simply said that it was probably not necessary, but just looking at me he thought it was relatively likely that I had an incomplete Y gene. I don't know what that means, but since he is a prominent genetic researcher, that was good enough for me.
I'd never heard of an Intersexed XY that was able to father children, but at this stage, I am not rocking the boat. He said the genetic research field was changing so rapidly that it was imposible to keep up with each new discovery.
On another note, my Mom, was probably Bipolar, my oldest Brother was extremely depressed, and my next oldest Brother is steril. We were from the Virginia, to Oklahoma settler people and it is my understanding that a lot of interbreeding went on in my family tree.
Hmmmm
Gwen
Comments
If the genetic karyotype was
If the genetic karyotype was to show an xxy or variant karyotype (Klienfelter's syndrome of 47xxy, 48xxxy or 48 xxyy, xyy or whatever mix, as it used to be called) that could explain the kids as there are many people with xxy who do father kids. Not easy sometimes, but does happen. Just saying.
XXY does occur in about 1 out of 500 people, but is usually undiagnosed unless there is marked decrease in size of genitalia requiring fertility intervention, or it is found when the person is sufficiently mosaic to be sterile. Many XXY folks do have fertility problems and low sex drive. It used to be called a trisomy, where an egg or sperm was incompletely divided resulting in two sex chromosomes from one parent and one from the other. Mosaic can occur after the initial egg or sperm division after fertilization but during cell division, and some parts/organs can have one karyotype and others another. Usually the result of the bonds between the two strands of chomosomes not being complelely separated due to malfunctions of the emzymes that unstitch chomosomes before cell division to make copies. Very rare, but one reason that DNA testing should not be relied upon during criminal investigation, unconditionally.
CaroL
CaroL
Low sex drive
That comment caught my attention, admittedly. I wasn't interested in dating until about 15, and even then I was usually more likely to be found with my nose in a book, trying to find a poem to impress a girl than within five miles of a gym ;-)
Does kind of make me wonder. Back in the 90s when I was still in school I spoke briefly with a biology teacher about genetic research. I think he might have been slightly misinformed because I very vividly remember him stating that genetic "abnormalities" like XXY tended to result in children with learning disabilities of an ... extreme nature, which actually discouraged me from keeping up with research any further.
I'll have to start paying more attention now that we're a good fifteen years ahead in research though.
Thanks for posting this, you two. My scientific side (The side that usually only gets a workout when debating string theory or Doctor Who with a good friend of mine) just kicked into overdrive :-D
Foundational Genetics Book
Robert Pool wrote a book called "Eve's Rib", and I have heard it mentioned time and again as one of the books that gave press to a fledgling Genetics research effort. I still have my copy. Not looking at Genetic Research specifically, but at the way knowlege increases, many people think that our knowlege is increasing at an exponential rate. In other words, the more time passes the faster it goes.
I live very near several huge INTEL plants and their early leadership and they are entranced by "Moore's Law" which states that "the number of transistors on a chip will double every two years." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore's_law I have no idea if they have actually done it, but I do know that on my first computer, the main processor was an easy to find little chip about an inch square. I think it was an 8088. On my new machine, it or they are surrounded by this 4" cube of stuff, and someone told me it is a liquid cooler. What Ever!
So, having grown tired of chasing that rabbit, :) sorry, it seems that much of science is following a similar pattern.
So, if one does a search, not on Transgenderisim, but on Genetic Research, the work being done with the intersexed is astonishing, and yes, there are genetic conditions where the subject is caught in the delima of not being pure XX or XY and is still fertile as a male. Which is exactly what happened to me!
Gone is the binary gender model! I feel like singing that to the tune of "The Wicked Old Witch Is Dead". Many of us exhibited feminine traits even in infanthood, but grew up to impersonate men for at least part of our lives. Here is another interesting link. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/85931.php
Yes, folks it is finally out in the open. Since my first experiences with the problem in the early 50's, I can see where it has gone from complete ignorance, to shock, to ridicule, to violence, and in the last 10 years growing awareness. Hopefully the children being born today who are not pure XX or XY will have a much brighter future than we did.
Much peace.
Gwen
Bailey Summers I live in a
Bailey Summers
I live in a Uni town and well this came out of a conversation at the local pub. Intersexed is well known or rather It's getting more talked about as is sex, sexual orientation and the who gambit was being discussed and then out of the dozen or so kids there I heard them talking about how now a days it's getting to be more to them about who they are and not what. Then one young guy maybe 20 said his girlfriend back home is a boy...In public at a bar.
Everyone was cool about it, even asking if she had a sister. It really didn't bug them.
Maybe there's hope for the human race after all.
Bailey Summers
It is not about Transgenderisim but about the genes.
I tried to tell a friend tonight that from what I have learned in the last several days, the way the new scientific investigation is going is that perhaps being trans will eventually mean a certain genetic type. Perhaps Trans will eventually disappear as a word that is descriptive of us? It no longer is of me.
All sorts of things that happen are because of genetics. Did you know that a certain genetic makeup makes Cilantro tast like soap? I hate the stuff, Phewhew, spit spit. yuk! And that from a person who sells the awful stuff!
I tried to tell her that genetic research is moving so fast now that what we thought even 4 years ago is now wrong! Maybe lots of us will have trouble adapting to the very things that might finally validate our lives. You can see it for yourselves. Get in Google and search for Genetic Research, and Intersex but not Transgenderisim.
Much peace
Gwen