Ambiguous sex organs

NCBI Bookshelf. Khawar T. Mehmood ; Rebecca M. Authors Khawar T. Mehmood 1 ; Rebecca M.

Ambiguous genitalia is a birth defect where the outer genitals do not have the typical appearance of either a boy or a girl. The genetic sex of a child is determined at conception. The mother's egg cell contains an X chromosome , while the father's sperm cell contains either an X or a Y chromosome. These X and Y chromosomes determine the child's genetic sex.

Intersex people are individuals born with any of several variations in sex characteristics including chromosomes , gonads , sex hormones or genitals that, according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights , "do not fit the typical definitions for male or female bodies". Intersex people were previously referred to as hermaphrodites or "congenital eunuchs ". It was the first attempt at creating a taxonomic classification system of intersex conditions. Intersex people were categorized as either having true hermaphroditism , female pseudohermaphroditism , or male pseudohermaphroditism.

When a child's gender is not clear at birth, the child has atypical genitalia ambiguous genitalia. This means that the genitals don't seem to be clearly male or female. You have 46 chromosomes in each cell of your body. These are grouped into 23 pairs.