If it were as easy as X and Y, testicles and ovaries—or if everyone was born into a perfect mold--there wouldn’t be any question.

The reality is that many babies aren’t born fitting that perfect mold. Some are born missing limbs, some have genetic differences like Down Syndrome, or any number of congenital issues. A number of them, a lot more than most people think, are born who can’t be immediately classified as boy or girl by the delivering doctor. Often, a specialist is called in to try to make the final call--if possible.

If a genetic test returns XXY or some other combination, or if ultrasounds looking for internal organs are unclear, and external features look like a combination of both or neither sex…what call should be made on the gender of a newborn?

Our culture doesn’t like talking about our naughty bits. New parents aren’t going to tell their friends and family about any of these problems. They’re likely to pick a sex based on their best guess and stick with it. Sometimes that was the wrong choice of the coin toss.

Then there are the really tricky cases, like how some people are born with XY chromosomes but have complete resistance to male hormones. They develop female characteristics in the womb and develop like any other typical women as they grow up. They’re usually even more feminine than most XX women, because natural testosterone is completely blocked in their bodies. They may go most of their lives without noticing anything out of the ordinary, until they learn for one reason or another, maybe a mail-order genetics kit or a fertility doctor, that they are actually genetically male. Try explaining that one to your husband.

Yes, most of us fit the easy male/female mold. Some don't.

From a legal standpoint, there has been male/female/other for millennia.
Yet, in the public arena….

charlie