Sex assignment
Sex assignment
Sex assignment (/sɛks əˈsaɪnmənt/) is the determination of an infant's sex at birth. In the majority of births, a relative, midwife, nurse or physician inspects the genitalia when the baby is delivered, and sex is assigned, without the expectation of ambiguity.
Etymology
The term "sex assignment" is derived from the combination of "sex", from the Latin sexus meaning "state of being either male or female," and "assignment" from the Latin assignare meaning "to mark out."
Process
Sex assignment is usually determined by the visual assessment of the external genitalia. However, in some cases, the appearance of the genitalia may not be enough to identify the sex of the infant. In such cases, additional tests such as chromosome analysis may be required.
Intersex
In some cases, infants may be born with intersex conditions, where the external genitalia do not appear clearly male or female. In such cases, the process of sex assignment can become more complex and may involve a team of medical professionals, including endocrinologists, geneticists, and psychologists.
Related terms
- Gender identity: A person's internal, deeply held sense of their gender.
- Sexual differentiation: The process of development of the differences between males and females from an undifferentiated zygote.
- Hermaphrodite: An organism that has complete or partial reproductive organs and produces gametes normally associated with both male and female sexes.
See also
External links
- Medical encyclopedia article on Sex assignment
- Wikipedia's article - Sex assignment
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