BBC finally acknowledges something may be amiss in Olympics women's boxing

Yes, this patient is likely to have CAIS, not 5ARD.

I’m quite concerned that someone who looks unambiguously female can get to 33 and not seek out some sort of medical advice re: the lack of a period. Presumably the relative who never menstruated is ann older relative and hadn’t sought medical adevice either?

I’m pretty sure the NHS used to say to contact to your GP if no period by 16 but the current guidelines seem to have lowered it to 15 (or at 13 if no signs of puberty at all).

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/periods/starting-periods/

Clear, plain language medical messaging is so important for women’s health globally.
We really shouldn’t be tying ourselves in additional ‘menstruating people’ ‘birthing parent’ knots.
.

BBC article: ‘We do know that the process of sex determination starts when a foetus is developing. Most females get two X chromosomes (XX), while most males get an X and a Y chromosome (XY).
Chromosomes influence a person's sex’.

Jesus wept.

I can determine Sofia Bettiza didn’t concentrate during biology classes. That’s a very obtuse, muddled way of writing.
She is contradicting even BBC bitesize on sex determination and twisting facts to suit her agenda. But then she’s the ‘gender and identity’ reporter. The job title sounds like a mad sorting-hatter from Alice in Wonderland.

It is a good article and does try to explain the variety of DSDs. If someone has CAIS (maybe the danish women diagnosed late) they have XY chromosomes but NO physiological response to testosterone so could fairly compete as a woman in sport. If they have 5-ARD (like Caster) then they have XY chromosomes and do get an advantage from testosterone so can't compete. And there are other even weirder DSDs which may be unclear.

Even if the two boxers have XY chromosomes, we don't know which DSD they might have or how that would impact performance. This is complex.

He thinks if we did sex chromosome screening and had to determine after that if it was a male with evidence of virilisation, ie testosterone benefit and not CAIS, that would be mean.

Why did the guy at the end throw in the guff about measuring people's breasts and clitorises? You definitely don't play sport with your clitoris.

‘The most recent woman we diagnosed with having XY chromosomes was 33,” says Claus Højbjerg Gravholt - an endocrinology professor at Aarhus University who spent the past 30 years dealing with DSD.

His patient came to see him because she had no idea why she couldn’t get pregnant.

“We discovered she didn’t have a uterus, so she would never be able to have a baby. She was absolutely devastated.”

But this has NOTHING to do with chromosomes ! This poor woman doesn’t have a womb , so she cannot carry a baby. That is completely different from having XY chromosomes, which means you are a bloke. It’s like saying that if you are blind, you are not a person, you are a mole .

I really hope this patient managed to find a doctor who knows the basics of human anatomy and physiology .

Good article by BBC standards, apart from the sentence claiming sex isn’t binary.

What it fails to mention is the fact it’s not just about unfair advantage, it’s about women’s safety being jeopardised. Female boxers are risking brain damage, paralysis and death if they step in the ring with someone with male punching power.

“The most recent woman we diagnosed with having XY chromosomes was 33,” says Claus Højbjerg Gravholt - an endocrinology professor at Aarhus University who spent the past 30 years dealing with DSD.

His patient came to see him because she had no idea why she couldn’t get pregnant.

“We discovered she didn’t have a uterus, so she would never be able to have a baby. She was absolutely devastated.”

Prof Gravholt says the implications that come with questioning one’s gender identity can be destabilising - and he often refers his patients to a psychologist.

“If I showed you her photo, you would say: that’s a woman. She has a female body, she is married to a man. She feels like a female. And that is the case for most of my patients.”

When Prof Gravholt asked her why she didn’t consult a doctor about not getting periods, she said there was another older woman in her family who never menstruated - so she thought it wasn’t abnormal.”

All of this is obfuscation because none of it applies to our two athletes. It’s just included to make readers think that this DSD might be what these athletes have.

I do not have a PhD in molecular genetics in elite sports.
I do, however, have O level biology.

Sex is binary.

Look over there, it's a squirrel!

If sex is not binary as they state, then no one with a DSD is eligible for either male or female competition. In reality sex is indeed binary and these athletes are ineligible because they are male.

Regulating elite sports, which typically rely on male-female binary categories in competition, is complicated because the biology of sex itself is complex and not exclusively binary

Erm, if it's not binary, then presumably a third (or fourth, or fifth....) sex exists? I read it on Mumsnet and it's stuck with me ever since - if this is the case, where are the Nobel prizewinners for finding this third sex?

Differences in a developmental pathway don't change the binary. Why is the writer pretending otherwise?

This is a really excellent article Op. I understand why some argue that sex is not clearly XX XY but I think it is also clear that our boxers do not fit the category of XX. The article is a good medical direction but what it doesn't do is talk about coaches out there who are specifically searching for DSD people who can win medals without having to be tested by the IOC. I would guess those days are beginning to pass. The furore this year should ensure that all categories of sport are very careful how they assess their female competitors.

Those at the top of the IOC should seriously re-think their positions. What this uproar might do is ensure our new government steer well clear of self id in any form

If the boxers had CAIS no one would have even thought to test them. It’s such nonsense.

I archived that just in case it mysteriously changes as the day wears on.

archive.ph/CnVLV

In other news: BBC reports water is wet.

That journo is the 'gender and identity' correspondent. Honestly, I'm embarrassed for they.

What next? People Who Like Tunnocks Correspondent?