Woman Was Treated For An Ankle Injury And Found Out She Was Born Male And Intersex

The 25-year-old confessed during questioning that I had never menstruated, a situation which had led her mother to consult a specialist, who assured her that she sexual development was slower than normal and that she would end up having her menarche. “When I grew up, I found this question quite embarrassing, so I didn’t take it seriously.“he commented.

The results of a series of endocrinological tests showed that the girl suffered from high blood pressure and low levels of potassium in the blood, a typical symptom of a condition called congenital adrenal hyperplasia, which could lead to impaired sexual development.

However, genetic testing has shown that theAffections to her adrenal glands were not responsible for her inability to get pregnant or the lack of menstruation.. The real cause it was at the chromosomal level, since the patient is carrier of a 46 XY male karyotype, a condition known as partial gonadal dysgenesis. It is a disorder of sexual development associated with abnormalities in the development of reproductive organs that gives rise to genital ambiguity of varying degree in each patient, as published by the Chinese portal.

No male sex organs

The series of studies that they practiced after checking their intersex did not show the presence of internal male genitalia. “We couldn’t find any hidden testicles in his body. Maybe it’s because she’s quite old and they’ve degenerated and atrophied, ”said Dong Fengqin, the endocrinologist who treated the patient.

“Despite the lack of periods, ‘Pingping’ – the patient’s fictitious name – had no reason to suspect that she was anything other than a biological woman because she had external female genitalia,” wrote the College of the first affiliated hospital. Zhejiang University Medicine in a statement.

Now that the conditions caused by adrenal hyperplasia are under control, the woman will have to decide on the sex with which she wishes to identify and assume her identity. “It takes a long time to rebuild the social role and rebuild the family. It will be a laborious process, in which psychological intervention is necessarySaid Hu Shaohua, deputy director of the mental health center of the hospital where she is being treated, who assured that the patient had not yet requested psychological support.