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It is very difficult to say how many children are born as intersexes. As already explained, intersexuality is a modern concept covering a wide spectrum of atypical developments. Some are immediately obvious, others are hidden or hardly noticeable even under close medical scrutiny. Sometimes, it is a matter of opinion whether the term “intersex” should be applied to a particular case. In other words: Like so much else in human sexuality, intersexuality is a matter of degree, and it depends on various social and medical conventions where exactly one draws the diagnostic line. Nevertheless, there have been repeated attempts to estimate the number of persons affected, and these estimates vary widely. The best estimate today seems to be this: In one of every 1500 - 2000 live births, a specialist is called to help determine the sex of the baby. An additional, but unknown number of intersex conditions are not noticed at birth, but are discovered later in life. Taking a broader view of the issue, it has been found that one in 100 newborns differ in their physical appearance from the expected typical male or female, and that one in 1000 receive surgery to “normalize” the appearance of their sex organs (1). In short, intersexuality is relatively rare, but still common enough to deserve our attention. It would be very helpful not only for the persons concerned, but also for the rest of society if everyone were better informed about the subject.
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Spectrum between female and male
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There is a wide spectrum of possible atypical developments between female and male.
Different definitions of intersexuality are based on
(A) narrower or (B) wider sections of this spectrum.
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1. Blackless, M., Charuvastra, A., Derryck, A., Fausto-Sterling, A., Lauzanne, K. and Lee, E. 2000. How sexually dimorphic are we? Review and synthesis. American Journal of Human Biology 12:151-166
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