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How common is lntersex? A response to Anne Fausto‐Sterling

2002/08/01 by Leonard Sax · 3 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Medicine · Psychology · #Biology #Congenital adrenal hyperplasia #Developmental psychology #Disorders of sex development #Endocrinology #Genetic and Clinical Aspects of Sex Determination and Chromosomal Abnormalities #Genetics #LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy #Meaning (existential) #Medicine #Psychology #Psychotherapist #Sexual Differentiation and Disorders #Term (time)

paper · doi:10.1080/00224490209552139

openalex publication_date 2002/08/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29

Abstract

Anne Fausto-Sterling s suggestion that the prevalence of intersex might be as high as 1.7% has attracted wide attention in both the scholarly press and the popular media. Many reviewers are not aware that this figure includes conditions which most clinicians do not recognize as intersex, such as Klinefelter syndrome, Turner syndrome, and late-onset adrenal hyperplasia. If the term intersex is to retain any meaning, the term should be restricted to those conditions in which chromosomal sex is inconsistent with phenotypic sex, or in which the phenotype is not classifiable as either male or female. Applying this more precise definition, the true prevalence of intersex is seen to be about 0.018%, almost 100 times lower than Fausto-Sterling s estimate of 1.7%.

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