Is Gender Mutable?

Matty, a sufferer with KS, says,

I deal with a lot of hormone imbalances and abnormal cyclical changes, so I found that acupuncture helped extremely, and diet. I didn’t have much luck on the endocrinology side of things. When I tried testosterone therapy, it didn’t go over well at all. I lost a lot, and gained nothing but the knowledge of it not working… I remember the first time I saw the imbalanced hormone levels, it was so far out of the range for males that it would’ve been normal to see in female menopause.[2]

On a Reddit forum for XX Males[4] several give testimony about their condition:

o   Afishnsea: I am 27 now and I found out my genetic makeup 3 years ago after wondering for years why I have zero sperm count. I always identified as male although I felt I was different. I am 5′ 3″ or so and pretty healthy physically. My whole body is just scaled down.

o   rhapsody_in_bloo: Hi! My five year old has XX male syndrome in addition to being autistic, having other genetic abnormalities, and a muscle disorder. The muscle disorder is what led to us getting a microarray for him. XX male was a complete surprise. My kid uses he/him pronouns for everyone, himself included, but as far as gender identity he’ll call himself a boy, a girl, and neither, pretty interchangeably.

o   Maxaurora: I found out I’m an XX male about 6 years ago (I’m now 29) and have not met anyone with the same variation. When I found out about it I was ‘woaah that’s why I feel so female in my head’, as I feel very connected to my emotions and empathy for others (not sure how much of that is a female thing but hey!). I can also connect to my male side as well, and since going on Testoterone my brain lights up when I see anyone attractive.

Max Aurora raises the most interesting questions. Max is chromosomally female, but raised male. He feels female as well as male, and with testosterone he finds himself attracted sexually to females (not sure to whom he was attracted before). If he is genetically female but genitally male, who should he date?

True Hermaphroditism,[5] or Ovotesticular Disorder of Sex Development (OT-DSD),[6] is a rare condition in which an individual possesses both ovarian and testicular tissue. Most true hermaphrodites have a chromosome type XX (55-80%), some a combined XX/XY (20-30%), some XY (5-15%), and the remaining with other anomalies.[7] A true hermaphrodite may have a separate ovary and testis but more commonly has an ovo-testis which is a gonad containing both sorts of tissue. The external genitalia may be ambiguous or female. There may be a uterus or (more commonly) a hemi-uterus (half uterus) on the side where there is ovarian tissue. The person may be raised female or male, and often undergoes genital surgery. (80,000 worldwide)

Frank, 18, from Canada says:

Growing up, I always had the sense that my body was different. I was assigned female at birth, but I now know that I am intersex. I never wanted to take off my clothes in front of friends and always wore swim trunks and a bikini top. I remember that at age 6 I asked my dad why my genitals were different. He had no answer because he was not yet educated on intersex issues. At 11 I asked my mom why I had no opening when I tried using a tampon. Like my dad, she had no answers. In adolescence I was taken to a specialist. He wanted to examine my body and discovered I had late pubertal progression. I found out I had a mixed karyotype of XX and XY, and in my late teens I learned I had to get a gonadectomy. I was really upset about needing this procedure, which caused me to go into a depression. Afterward I learned that I actually had one ovotestis, which explained some things about my body.

Is someone with Ovotesticular Disorder of Sex Development a male or a female or both? They have been “designed” as both, without differentiation.

Swyer Syndrome,[8] also known as 46,XY Complete Gonadal Dysgenesis, is a rare disorder or difference of sex development (DSD) in which individuals with a male karyotype (46,XY) develop female external genitalia and internal reproductive structures—but lack functional gonads. The SRY, which in this case is where it ought to be, on the Y or male chromosome, does not function to produce male gonads that produce male characteristics. Instead, they develop along the female path. Because they do not have functional ovaries, affected individuals usually begin hormone replacement therapy during adolescence to induce menstruation (functioning gonads) and development of female secondary sex characteristics such as breast enlargement, and uterine growth. (100,000 worldwide)

Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH)[9] is a group of inherited disorders affecting the adrenal glands, which sit atop the kidneys and produce vital hormones like cortisol, aldosterone, and androgens. CAH disrupts this hormone production, leading to a range of symptoms depending on the severity and type. There is a broken genetic “recipe” for making cortisone in the adrenal glands so that the adrenal glands, while trying to make cortisone, may make an unusually high level of other hormones that are “virilizing” (masculinizing). Males (XY embryos) may experience penile enlargement, salt wasting crisis (vomiting, dehydration, low sodium, failure to thrive, adrenal crisis), rapid growth, advanced bone age, early puberty, fertility issues, and hormonal imbalances. But they look male. Females, XX embryos, have larger than average clitorises, or even a clitoris that looks rather like a penis, or labia that look like a scrotum. Because the virilization originates metabolically, masculinizing effects continue after birth. So, CAH can cause the female person to develop masculine-typical characteristics like dense body hair, a receding hairline, deep voice, prominent muscles, etc. The sex phenotype (observable sexual characteristics) varies along the full continuum. (500,000-800,000 in Western countries)

5α-Reductase 2 deficiency (5αR2D)[10] is an autosomal recessive condition caused by mutations impairing the function of SRD5A2, a gene located on chromosome 2 and encoding the enzyme 5α-reductase type 2 (5αR2). 5αR2 is expressed in specific tissues and catalyzes the transformation of testosterone (T) into 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT). If an XY male has the deficiency it leads to insufficient DHT production and so failure in the process of masculinization, similar to the way  Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS) does. (80,000-400,000 worldwide). 17-beta hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 3 deficiency[11] also causes testosterone insufficiency during embryonic development, causing similar issues as Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (54,000 worldwide).

These[12] and other Differences of Sexual Development (DSD) raise serious questions about gender and what it is and how people with mixed gender should live.

Though in an executive order signed January 20, 2025, the President of the United States asserted that there are two immutable human sexes and that females are defined as persons “belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the large reproductive cell” (the ovum), and males “the sex that produces the small reproductive cell” (the sperm)[13] it appears that God has, in fact, created two very mutable sexes that are sometimes mixed in individuals, and that this definition does not work for everyone.