Semenya's sex test explained

[Sickko]

Semenya's sex test explained

Post categories: Olympics
Gordon Farquhar | 14:07 UK time, Friday, 21 August 2009


This must be an awful time for Caster Semenya, brought up as a girl and a woman, but now facing the possibility of being told she may not be who she thinks she is.
The IAAF has to leave the potential psychological effects of this to one side for now and let the scientists deliver their verdict on the 18-year-old South African who came from nowhere to become World 800m champion.
Gender testing is a complicated business. Basically, if questions are raised there are four main elements to consider: anatomy, physiology, chromosomal makeup and genetic composition.
Those who think it's a simple case of a naked parade, as was the norm when gender testing first happened in sport in the 1960s, are much mistaken, but anatomy is the obvious starting point.
Thankfully, the IOC was persuaded to quickly move on from the crude, unsatisfactory methods first used. Chromosome testing was the next step, and that produces an analysis that is accurate in most cases.
If you present with a XX chromatic profile, you are a woman; XY and you are a man. Easy?
Well, fairly, but how then do explain the example of a woman with secondary sexual development (breasts), anatomically female genitalia, yet with an XY chromosomic presentation? It does happen.
In simple(ish) terms, there's a condition called Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome, which occurs when a part of the Y chromosome doesn't do what it should.
Called the SRY gene, it's the instigator of male foetal development. Where it does its job properly, the male hormones ping off and the male foetus develops normally.
However, in a very small number of cases (perhaps one in 20,000 I understand), there's a malfunction and both female and male genitalia develop, albeit internally, and male hormones like testosterone, are largely held in check.
For sports governing bodies like the IOC or IAAF, where fair competition on the basis of gender is a pre-requisite, this has been a real headache. How and who should decide in these cases whether the person be considered a woman or a man?
The answer is through debate, case-by-case discussion, and a lot of analysis.
The IOC has concluded that people who present with the CAIS syndrome should be considered to be female, but there are variations along the way - and of course we don't yet know the full details of Semenya's case.
All this will have to be gone through, but hopefully more privately than has been the case in Berlin this week.
The South African teenager ought to be shown more sensitivity than was afforded to the Indian runner Santhi Soundarajan (pictured above), who attempted suicide in 2007 after failing gender tests and being stripped of the silver medal she won in the 800m at the 2006 Asian Games.
She survived that ordeal and has now set up her own athletics academy in India, so her story at least had a happy ending.
It's to be hoped Semenya's will too, whatever the outcome of the gender tests she must now be anxiously awaiting.

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• 1. At 5:15pm on 21 Aug 2009, yvonne-miranthis wrote:I sincerely hope that all this hoopla does not cause her, nor any other athlete, to withdraw from competition. Gender testing of athletes should be regarded as a routine event and not reported in the press unless there is some significant finding. Whether she is female, male or of indeterminate gender, she is a gifted human being who has as much right to compete as anyone else. Current rules and structure for competition seem to allow for only two gender categories, whereas it is now known that as many as 1 in 1,000 babies has some sort of gender abnormality. To make it possible for all athletes to compete regardless of gender, why not create "open" or "mixed" events, in addition to the traditional men's and women's events?
  Complain about this comment
• 2. At 5:58pm on 21 Aug 2009, tenmin20 wrote: This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
• 3. At 6:01pm on 21 Aug 2009, tenmin20 wrote:I apologize, I mistyped. The general, conservative data is that 1 in every 2,000 births is intersex (I quoted from the article, which grossly miscalculated the figure as 1 in every 20,000).
  Complain about this comment
• 4. At 6:39pm on 21 Aug 2009, tenmin20 wrote: People need to get more in depth in their sex research. The figure 1 in every 2,000 births is simplistic, as there are (as the article mentions) numerous "sex" characteristics a person may be born with, from chromosomes to more 'physical' characteristics.
  
  There is an excellent text written on the subject, both scientific and philosophical, which I cannot link here, but you can find mentioned by the Intersex Society of America (it's an academic text book). I'm more a philosophy person myself, so found it a dry read at first, but found it incredible well researched and informative.
  
  P.S. 1 in every 2,000 births still means over 150,000 people in the U.S. (again, this does not count other births that are sex-questionable/intersex). For instance, that is more than the population of my own community, Tibetans, in the U.S. (and in fact, almost our total number outside Tibet). But most people know about Tibetans and a thing or two about our 'issues.' The same should occur around the myth of two clear cut sexes, and the reality of intersexed people.
  
  Complain about this comment
• 5. At 6:45pm on 21 Aug 2009, conto1 wroteid the IOC or IAAF not see her when she started the race - why the hoola when she won the race!
  Complain about this comment
• 6. At 7:41pm on 21 Aug 2009, JoannaJ wrote: If the IOC were going to do this they should have kept quiet about it until they got the results - talk about respecting someone's privacy, after all they keep stressing she hasn't done anything wrong.
  Complain about this comment
• 7. At 7:56pm on 21 Aug 2009, FarquharsPEteacher wrote: I don't suppose you learned all that in Mrs Birkin's biology class Gordon
  Complain about this comment
• 8. At 7:59pm on 21 Aug 2009, giggleherbert wrote:Why is there this concern, when the physical size and muscular shape of the Williams tennis players, and the 100metre american runners has been with us for years. If she had long hair and nail varnish would this take the pressure off ? Also why so public ? Are drug tests and testers not as physically personal as possible ? Has she failed these? If she was american or English all you would hear is litigation, her silence is humbling.
  Complain about this comment
• 9. At 8:02pm on 21 Aug 2009, wildNewgirl wrote:While I agree entirely vwith your sentiment that she should have been treated more sensitively, just the fact that the press are making such a story of this and your need to write here shows a huge lack of sensitivity.
  
  There are many people who are gender variant for one reason or another - and most of these have genetic causes to them.
  
  Why if she has a female birth certificate is anyone even interested in challenging this? If we are going to allow her to be challenged in this way then surely we have to accept the right of every single person to challenge the validity of any birth certificate.
  
  Time to get real and start supporting her. There are women of all shapes and sizes, with all sorts of voices. Just because she does not fit the image portrayed in magazines does not mean she is any less of a woman.
  Complain about this comment
• 10. At 8:17pm on 21 Aug 2009, macgroover wrote: You have to wonder whether she would have been tested had she been a blonde European who had improved as much. How do we know that there aren't many such women who unknown to themselves would fail this test? It would seem this kind of testing should be mandatory if you're going to pick out individuals for what seem fairly arbitrary reasons.
  Complain about this comment
• 11. At 8:23pm on 21 Aug 2009, TrojanOtter wrote: This comment has been referred to the moderators. Explain.
• 12. At 8:52pm on 21 Aug 2009, tiggertoo wrote: This comment has been referred to the moderators. Explain.
• 13. At 8:54pm on 21 Aug 2009, capucho123 wrote: Semenya may well be a talented athlete, but that does not make it acceptable that she should be allowed to compete should the results show her to be a man. As to the questions of ethnic appearance above ... Surely the fact that Semenya does have a very masculine appearance is far more of a reason to be tested than the fact that she is Black - And that's without taking into consideration her rather dramatic rise to the Gold medal at an incrediably young age.
  Complain about this comment
• 14. At 9:00pm on 21 Aug 2009, webguerillas wrote: I think that every right minded person would feel a great amount of sympathy for this girl. The IOC will also feel a great amount of regret in releasing the information to the press. However I don't blame them for resulting media circus that has surrounded Caster Semenya, that is the responsibility of all of us, as broadcasters, journalists and as the general public. The one positive that will come out of this is that people will, hopefully, become educated on the subject and gain a sense of understanding and compassion for people with gender conditions.
  Complain about this comment
• 15. At 9:15pm on 21 Aug 2009, dmc4manu wrote: She was brought up as a woman. She excelled at her sport. Is she a woman?
  
  Bolt just did the impossible, is he a man? Should he not be tested to see if there are not any mechanical parts to him? He might just explode if he was put into a MR.
  
  Bulltwang.
  
  Are we now to test every athlete for every possible abnormality? If a top athlete has a rare disease, then he/she is allowed to enter the "disabled"? Olymipics. Fact.
  
  A friend of mine has a blood dissorder that only a few in the world have and qualifies for the "disabled"(please help me on the correct phrase) Olympics. There is nothing wrong with her, otherwise. Why can she not take part in the normal Olympics?
  
  I'ts all bull.
  
  Bolt, obiously has something wrong with him to be so good, he should be taking part in the disabled Olympics.
  
  
  Complain about this comment
• 16. At 9:30pm on 21 Aug 2009, BennyBlanco wrote: Gordon,
  
  A reasonable attempt at explaining a complex issue. However, you haven't fully explained the range of intersex disorders. Semenya can't have complete AIS as with that condition she would not have any male features at all. You're right, partial versions are a possibility. The other possibility is she has female chromosomes but has had a lifetime of exposure to excessive male hormones from a condition such as congenital adrenal hyperplasia.
  
  But the most important issue you raise last; when people find out about these conditions they have a whole team of specialists to deal with issues, and a diagnosis is a huge thing for a person to deal with, and it is very sad she will have to deal with this in the public eye.
  
  And finally it is going to be very interesting to see how the IAAF rule when her diagnosis is made. If she is a female who has had a lifetime of exposure to male hormones that is not her fault, such as with congenital adrenal hyperplasia, is that an unfair advantage? Similarly is she is a male 46XY who has partial AIS, so her male hormones don't take the full effect they should, meaning she is more woman like, is that an unfair advantage?
  
  I think no for the first scenario, and possibly for the second. I'm hoping for the first so she can keep her medal.

[Jangle]

Let me say this. If the test proves without a shadow of a doubt that this "athlete" is a woman, and she goes on living her life as such, it will take a braver man to "woo" her. But as we say in Jamaica, "Every hoe have dem stick a bush". Mosiah, I volunteer you first.

[Hortical]

She a go fail the gender test fi a female big time. There are men out dere who would run afta sumody like her.

[Time]

Why do thet have a psychologist on the test team?

Semenya's sex test explained

Post categories: Olympics
Gordon Farquhar | 14:07 UK time, Friday, 21 August 2009


This must be an awful time for Caster Semenya, brought up as a girl and a woman, but now facing the possibility of being told she may not be who she thinks she is.
The IAAF has to leave the potential psychological effects of this to one side for now and let the scientists deliver their verdict on the 18-year-old South African who came from nowhere to become World 800m champion.
Gender testing is a complicated business. Basically, if questions are raised there are four main elements to consider: anatomy, physiology, chromosomal makeup and genetic composition.
Those who think it's a simple case of a naked parade, as was the norm when gender testing first happened in sport in the 1960s, are much mistaken, but anatomy is the obvious starting point.
Thankfully, the IOC was persuaded to quickly move on from the crude, unsatisfactory methods first used. Chromosome testing was the next step, and that produces an analysis that is accurate in most cases.
If you present with a XX chromatic profile, you are a woman; XY and you are a man. Easy?
Well, fairly, but how then do explain the example of a woman with secondary sexual development (breasts), anatomically female genitalia, yet with an XY chromosomic presentation? It does happen.
In simple(ish) terms, there's a condition called Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome, which occurs when a part of the Y chromosome doesn't do what it should.
Called the SRY gene, it's the instigator of male foetal development. Where it does its job properly, the male hormones ping off and the male foetus develops normally.
However, in a very small number of cases (perhaps one in 20,000 I understand), there's a malfunction and both female and male genitalia develop, albeit internally, and male hormones like testosterone, are largely held in check.
For sports governing bodies like the IOC or IAAF, where fair competition on the basis of gender is a pre-requisite, this has been a real headache. How and who should decide in these cases whether the person be considered a woman or a man?
The answer is through debate, case-by-case discussion, and a lot of analysis.
The IOC has concluded that people who present with the CAIS syndrome should be considered to be female, but there are variations along the way - and of course we don't yet know the full details of Semenya's case.
All this will have to be gone through, but hopefully more privately than has been the case in Berlin this week.
The South African teenager ought to be shown more sensitivity than was afforded to the Indian runner Santhi Soundarajan (pictured above), who attempted suicide in 2007 after failing gender tests and being stripped of the silver medal she won in the 800m at the 2006 Asian Games.
She survived that ordeal and has now set up her own athletics academy in India, so her story at least had a happy ending.
It's to be hoped Semenya's will too, whatever the outcome of the gender tests she must now be anxiously awaiting.

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• 1. At 5:15pm on 21 Aug 2009, yvonne-miranthis wrote:I sincerely hope that all this hoopla does not cause her, nor any other athlete, to withdraw from competition. Gender testing of athletes should be regarded as a routine event and not reported in the press unless there is some significant finding. Whether she is female, male or of indeterminate gender, she is a gifted human being who has as much right to compete as anyone else. Current rules and structure for competition seem to allow for only two gender categories, whereas it is now known that as many as 1 in 1,000 babies has some sort of gender abnormality. To make it possible for all athletes to compete regardless of gender, why not create "open" or "mixed" events, in addition to the traditional men's and women's events?
  Complain about this comment
• 2. At 5:58pm on 21 Aug 2009, tenmin20 wrote: This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
• 3. At 6:01pm on 21 Aug 2009, tenmin20 wrote:I apologize, I mistyped. The general, conservative data is that 1 in every 2,000 births is intersex (I quoted from the article, which grossly miscalculated the figure as 1 in every 20,000).
  Complain about this comment
• 4. At 6:39pm on 21 Aug 2009, tenmin20 wrote: People need to get more in depth in their sex research. The figure 1 in every 2,000 births is simplistic, as there are (as the article mentions) numerous "sex" characteristics a person may be born with, from chromosomes to more 'physical' characteristics.
  
  There is an excellent text written on the subject, both scientific and philosophical, which I cannot link here, but you can find mentioned by the Intersex Society of America (it's an academic text book). I'm more a philosophy person myself, so found it a dry read at first, but found it incredible well researched and informative.
  
  P.S. 1 in every 2,000 births still means over 150,000 people in the U.S. (again, this does not count other births that are sex-questionable/intersex). For instance, that is more than the population of my own community, Tibetans, in the U.S. (and in fact, almost our total number outside Tibet). But most people know about Tibetans and a thing or two about our 'issues.' The same should occur around the myth of two clear cut sexes, and the reality of intersexed people.
  
  Complain about this comment
• 5. At 6:45pm on 21 Aug 2009, conto1 wroteid the IOC or IAAF not see her when she started the race - why the hoola when she won the race!
  Complain about this comment
• 6. At 7:41pm on 21 Aug 2009, JoannaJ wrote: If the IOC were going to do this they should have kept quiet about it until they got the results - talk about respecting someone's privacy, after all they keep stressing she hasn't done anything wrong.
  Complain about this comment
• 7. At 7:56pm on 21 Aug 2009, FarquharsPEteacher wrote: I don't suppose you learned all that in Mrs Birkin's biology class Gordon
  Complain about this comment
• 8. At 7:59pm on 21 Aug 2009, giggleherbert wrote:Why is there this concern, when the physical size and muscular shape of the Williams tennis players, and the 100metre american runners has been with us for years. If she had long hair and nail varnish would this take the pressure off ? Also why so public ? Are drug tests and testers not as physically personal as possible ? Has she failed these? If she was american or English all you would hear is litigation, her silence is humbling.
  Complain about this comment
• 9. At 8:02pm on 21 Aug 2009, wildNewgirl wrote:While I agree entirely vwith your sentiment that she should have been treated more sensitively, just the fact that the press are making such a story of this and your need to write here shows a huge lack of sensitivity.
  
  There are many people who are gender variant for one reason or another - and most of these have genetic causes to them.
  
  Why if she has a female birth certificate is anyone even interested in challenging this? If we are going to allow her to be challenged in this way then surely we have to accept the right of every single person to challenge the validity of any birth certificate.
  
  Time to get real and start supporting her. There are women of all shapes and sizes, with all sorts of voices. Just because she does not fit the image portrayed in magazines does not mean she is any less of a woman.
  Complain about this comment
• 10. At 8:17pm on 21 Aug 2009, macgroover wrote: You have to wonder whether she would have been tested had she been a blonde European who had improved as much. How do we know that there aren't many such women who unknown to themselves would fail this test? It would seem this kind of testing should be mandatory if you're going to pick out individuals for what seem fairly arbitrary reasons.
  Complain about this comment
• 11. At 8:23pm on 21 Aug 2009, TrojanOtter wrote: This comment has been referred to the moderators. Explain.
• 12. At 8:52pm on 21 Aug 2009, tiggertoo wrote: This comment has been referred to the moderators. Explain.
• 13. At 8:54pm on 21 Aug 2009, capucho123 wrote: Semenya may well be a talented athlete, but that does not make it acceptable that she should be allowed to compete should the results show her to be a man. As to the questions of ethnic appearance above ... Surely the fact that Semenya does have a very masculine appearance is far more of a reason to be tested than the fact that she is Black - And that's without taking into consideration her rather dramatic rise to the Gold medal at an incrediably young age.
  Complain about this comment
• 14. At 9:00pm on 21 Aug 2009, webguerillas wrote: I think that every right minded person would feel a great amount of sympathy for this girl. The IOC will also feel a great amount of regret in releasing the information to the press. However I don't blame them for resulting media circus that has surrounded Caster Semenya, that is the responsibility of all of us, as broadcasters, journalists and as the general public. The one positive that will come out of this is that people will, hopefully, become educated on the subject and gain a sense of understanding and compassion for people with gender conditions.
  Complain about this comment
• 15. At 9:15pm on 21 Aug 2009, dmc4manu wrote: She was brought up as a woman. She excelled at her sport. Is she a woman?
  
  Bolt just did the impossible, is he a man? Should he not be tested to see if there are not any mechanical parts to him? He might just explode if he was put into a MR.
  
  Bulltwang.
  
  Are we now to test every athlete for every possible abnormality? If a top athlete has a rare disease, then he/she is allowed to enter the "disabled"? Olymipics. Fact.
  
  A friend of mine has a blood dissorder that only a few in the world have and qualifies for the "disabled"(please help me on the correct phrase) Olympics. There is nothing wrong with her, otherwise. Why can she not take part in the normal Olympics?
  
  I'ts all bull.
  
  Bolt, obiously has something wrong with him to be so good, he should be taking part in the disabled Olympics.
  
  
  Complain about this comment
• 16. At 9:30pm on 21 Aug 2009, BennyBlanco wrote: Gordon,
  
  A reasonable attempt at explaining a complex issue. However, you haven't fully explained the range of intersex disorders. Semenya can't have complete AIS as with that condition she would not have any male features at all. You're right, partial versions are a possibility. The other possibility is she has female chromosomes but has had a lifetime of exposure to excessive male hormones from a condition such as congenital adrenal hyperplasia.
  
  But the most important issue you raise last; when people find out about these conditions they have a whole team of specialists to deal with issues, and a diagnosis is a huge thing for a person to deal with, and it is very sad she will have to deal with this in the public eye.
  
  And finally it is going to be very interesting to see how the IAAF rule when her diagnosis is made. If she is a female who has had a lifetime of exposure to male hormones that is not her fault, such as with congenital adrenal hyperplasia, is that an unfair advantage? Similarly is she is a male 46XY who has partial AIS, so her male hormones don't take the full effect they should, meaning she is more woman like, is that an unfair advantage?
  
  I think no for the first scenario, and possibly for the second. I'm hoping for the first so she can keep her medal.

Why do thet have a psychologist on the test team?

[Hortical]

Boss, its like girls like flowers and boys like trucks.