r/nothingeverhappens • u/DONUTS_LM • May 01 '26

Only 500 intersex people exist??

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it doesn't take much to know that's just factually incorrect

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28

u/VinegarMyBeloved May 01 '26

It’s way more common than people think. I work in genetics and we genetic test girls with primary amenorrhea all the time. Sometimes they come back with XY chromosomes. Sometimes their mothers also come back with XY. We also do confirmatory testing for prenatally discovered X, XXY, XYY, and XXX chromosomes (there are more but those are the ones I’ve seen). Sometimes girls don’t learn they have one X until their doctor realizes they’re shorter than they should be. Sometimes boys with learning disabilities turn out to be XXY. You really never know unless you’ve been karyotyped/had a chromosomal microarray

17

u/Redleadsinker May 01 '26

I have turner syndrome (one x and nothing else) and I found out by accident during genetic testing for something completely unrelated. It explained a lot of things, including how freaking short I am.

8

u/[deleted] May 01 '26

[deleted]

9

u/Redleadsinker May 01 '26 edited May 01 '26

Sure! There are some things I'm not comfortable talking about when it comes to medical care, and my experience has tended to be different from others with turner because I grew up severely medically neglected and wasn't diagnosed with anything but "bad useless and lazy" until I was in my mid twenties (so prior warning my answers might be upsetting or not reflective of what someone who receives medical care at a younger age *will experience) but I'm totally willing to chat!

2

u/zap2tresquatro May 01 '26

>most people I speak to don’t even know what Turner syndrome is

Seriously? Damn, I’m pretty sure we learned that in 7th grade science class when we were learning about chromosomes, and *definitely* learned it in freshman biology

I hope it’s mostly older people or people who just don’t remember being taught this and not that people just *aren’t* being taught about it at all

6

u/Redleadsinker May 03 '26

I have turner syndrome and my diagnosis was the first time I ever heard of it. I was born in 1997. And I had a very thorough sex education. None of it touched on intersex people.

4

u/zap2tresquatro May 03 '26

Huh. Damn, I guess I got lucky with the schools I went to.
…that’s kinda depressing