Jump to content
  • Welcome to the TransPulse Forums!

    We offer a safe, inclusive community for transgender and gender non-conforming folks, as well as their loved ones, to find support and information.  Join today!

I suspect I may be intersex, I don't know what to do or how to confirm my suspicions.


magic8ball

Recommended Posts

Hi, this will be my first post on this site. I've never really interacted much with trans community or ever met an intersex person in general. I suspect I may be non binary but I don't particularly know how to go about dealing with that either.

 

However, I recently have begun to have some suspicions I may be intersex after some recent research. I don't know if I'm reading too much into things or if I'm misunderstanding what intersex is, or if I actually should try to see a doctor to confirm. If anyone has answers I would deeply appreciate it.

 

I guess I'll start by describing my experiences and the conditions I've been dealing with my whole life. I started puberty at around age 8 or 9, which as you can imagine for a young girl was quite mortifying. I don't believe that's exceptionally young or anything, but I don't know anyone else who started that early. It's also when I began to experience lots of acne, body hair, and even some hair on my face (although I have pretty light hair so it thankfully did not show too much). My mom took me to a dermatologist, where they essentially just told me to shave and put me on some acne treatments. None of them really worked, and a few years ago the only thing that seemed to work was a medication called spironolactone which I'm still on however I still occasionally experience acne and facial hair while on it but it's very manageable now. The dose I'm on is apparently very high for someone my height and weight.

 

Another thing of note is I don't experience periods all that often. I would think that I may experience a period three times a year or less since I started them very young. I also don't have breasts really, there is a bit of something but not much at all. I have a bit deeper voice than most other women I know.

 

I learned what intersex people were when my mom told me as a kid I had to have a procedure done because as an infant because I was born with I guess the uh, hole to my vagina being blocked or like sealed together almost. I also think I might have an enlarged clitoris but I genuinely have no idea. After learning this I did some research and stumbled on the word intersex and I could relate to some of the symptoms and conditions people talked about, as well as some common experiences for intersex people born female. I don't know if that makes me intersex at all, I guess I don't even really know what would constitute an intersex person.

 

I guess I don't know what to do or who to ask for advice. The weird thing about it all is that in private I actually kinda like it. Like I wish I wasn't on spironolactone because the facial hair and the deeper voice and everything kinda made me feel strangely good. I was really self conscious about it in public before I figured out ways to manage it, but I still kinda miss it.

Link to comment
  • Forum Moderator

Hi, @magic8ball.  Welcome!

 

It certainly sounds like you have reason to be suspicious about being intersex.  A doctor might be able to tell.  They would be able to refer you to a specialist if they don't know themselves.

 

You mother might be a person to ask.  It could be a difficult conversation, but she was there and should remember what she was told when you were born.

Link to comment
  • Admin

Your family doctor or HMO genetic counseling service would be a first step.  Another possibility would be the nearest university with a Medical School and medical research facility. Another would be your local chapter of Planned Parenthood.

 

I have talked with some young people with symptoms like yours, and they have been diagnosed with a specific condition that falls into the Intersex category.  At your age, the irregular periods should have been a signal to some part of your medical care team if you brought them up, so it is imperative that you take what you said to us and give it to them. 

Link to comment

I'm intersex, assigned female at birth.  I didn't really know until last year, when a visit to a good doctor gave me a lot more information.  

 

Based on your anatomical description, you might be intersex.  Like you, I didn't get breasts.  Enlarged private features, and somewhat incomplete female reproductive function. Some intersex people have atypical hormone levels that can affect puberty. 

 

From what I have learned, it seems that being intersex looks and feels different for each person.  My body came with some crazy and unique plumbing in spite of apparently average female chromosomes.  

Link to comment
10 hours ago, awkward-yet-sweet said:

I'm intersex, assigned female at birth.  I didn't really know until last year, when a visit to a good doctor gave me a lot more information.  

 

Based on your anatomical description, you might be intersex.  Like you, I didn't get breasts.  Enlarged private features, and somewhat incomplete female reproductive function. Some intersex people have atypical hormone levels that can affect puberty. 

 

From what I have learned, it seems that being intersex looks and feels different for each person.  My body came with some crazy and unique plumbing in spite of apparently average female chromosomes.  

Would it be invasive to ask what process you went through with the doctor to find this out? Did you see an OBGYN to discover this, or have a pelvic ultrasound or something similar?

Link to comment

I went to an OBGYN who waz recommended for being LGBTQ+ friendly, and at least somewhat knowledgeable about transgender issues.  Since I live in a rural area, I had to travel to a big city for a doctor like that is available.  My intersex body looks close enough to female normal on the surface that the doctors I saw in my youth had not figured out why I'm different.  

 

I ended up having multiple scans, including pelvic ultrasound.  My process is likely somewhat different from what yours would be. My internal anatomy is unique enough that initially my doctor was concerned about cancer.  It turned out that I'm fine, but what was supposed to be a couple of appointments turned into a couple of very tense days. 

 

Link to comment
1 hour ago, awkward-yet-sweet said:

I went to an OBGYN who waz recommended for being LGBTQ+ friendly, and at least somewhat knowledgeable about transgender issues.  Since I live in a rural area, I had to travel to a big city for a doctor like that is available.  My intersex body looks close enough to female normal on the surface that the doctors I saw in my youth had not figured out why I'm different.  

 

I ended up having multiple scans, including pelvic ultrasound.  My process is likely somewhat different from what yours would be. My internal anatomy is unique enough that initially my doctor was concerned about cancer.  It turned out that I'm fine, but what was supposed to be a couple of appointments turned into a couple of very tense days. 

 

Oh wow I can imagine that being really scary. I'm glad you're doing well. Being intersex sounds like the best possible outcome from that lol.

 

Thank you though, I made an appointment with an OBGYN in my city. I really need to get the menstruation stuff checked and out of the way though because this has been going on since I was little kid and I've never bothered to talk to a doctor about it really just due to embarrassment and fear because I had a sense that my anatomy might be slightly different and for a long time I didn't want anyone to see. I feel more prepared to go forward with going to the doctors now though, and I may ask about a pelvic ultrasound because I have some symptoms of PCOS regardless.

 

Thank you so much for your help, would it bother you if I possibly reached out in the future with other questions if anything comes up? You're the only person online who I've seen talk about that process openly and it's kinda a relief to hear that someone else seems to be experiencing a somewhat similar situation as an adult as well.

Link to comment
  • Admin

@magic8ball  Get a couple more posts made, and then you will be able to use our Personal Mail system to other members.  You have 3 posts as of this one, and need 5 to activate the PM system.

Link to comment
1 minute ago, VickySGV said:

@magic8ball  Get a couple more posts made, and then you will be able to use our Personal Mail system to other members.  You have 3 posts as of this one, and need 5 to activate the PM system.

Thank you for letting me know! Forgot to respond to your previous post as well, thank you I contacted a doctor and I'm going to attempt to sort this out in the coming weeks. Deeply appreciate the help and support I've received on this forum so far.

Link to comment
  • Admin

No response needed, I read what you reported you had done.  I am glad you are having a good time here and getting information you need.  I have had a couple of tests involving my actual genetic structure as well. One pinpointed a double allele gene for a blood issue. Interestingly enough it is a condition that is twice as likely to happen to Trans folks as the Cis population.  The other found an area where my Testosterone receptors were not going to function 100%  I did not mention the PCOS but had been thinking about it.  My former daughter-in-law had a stress induced battle with it, although I have 3 grandchildren from she and my son's marriage.  (They are still co-parents.)   I was just reading an article on Turners Syndrome which is a genetic problem for women involving extra X chromosomes and it also produces a symptom or two like you described.   

Link to comment
7 hours ago, magic8ball said:

Oh wow I can imagine that being really scary. I'm glad you're doing well. Being intersex sounds like the best possible outcome from that lol.

 

...would it bother you if I possibly reached out in the future with other questions if anything comes up?

 

Yeah, it was scary.  I don't handle medical stuff well anyways, so I definitely didn't go alone.  Even before my appointment, I let my doctor know that my husband and GF would be with me.  She wasn't bothered by my need to remain in near constant physical contact with them.  If you have any worries about it, make sure you let your doctor know so they aren't surprised, and hopefully you can get assurance that your needs will be accommodated.

 

I definitely get the embarrassment and fear!  When I was dealing with puberty, the doctor mentioned to my mother that my anatomy looks a bit different.  My mother proceeded to traumatize me about it, telling me that no man would marry me (among other insults).  I stayed away from doctors for years because of this, and that fear kept me from having a relationship of any kind until I was 26.  I couldn't get past the fear of being rejected, so it

took me even longer to become comfortable in an intimate relationship.  I've mostly overcome it at this point. 

 

If you want, you can PM me.  As I've said, our experiences/circumstances are likely to be different, but I'm happy to share if you find it helpful.  😊

 

Link to comment
  • 2 months later...
On 3/3/2023 at 5:42 PM, magic8ball said:

Hi, this will be my first post on this site. I've never really interacted much with trans community or ever met an intersex person in general. I suspect I may be non binary but I don't particularly know how to go about dealing with that either.

 

However, I recently have begun to have some suspicions I may be intersex after some recent research. I don't know if I'm reading too much into things or if I'm misunderstanding what intersex is, or if I actually should try to see a doctor to confirm. If anyone has answers I would deeply appreciate it.

 

I guess I'll start by describing my experiences and the conditions I've been dealing with my whole life. I started puberty at around age 8 or 9, which as you can imagine for a young girl was quite mortifying. I don't believe that's exceptionally young or anything, but I don't know anyone else who started that early. It's also when I began to experience lots of acne, body hair, and even some hair on my face (although I have pretty light hair so it thankfully did not show too much). My mom took me to a dermatologist, where they essentially just told me to shave and put me on some acne treatments. None of them really worked, and a few years ago the only thing that seemed to work was a medication called spironolactone which I'm still on however I still occasionally experience acne and facial hair while on it but it's very manageable now. The dose I'm on is apparently very high for someone my height and weight.

 

Another thing of note is I don't experience periods all that often. I would think that I may experience a period three times a year or less since I started them very young. I also don't have breasts really, there is a bit of something but not much at all. I have a bit deeper voice than most other women I know.

 

I learned what intersex people were when my mom told me as a kid I had to have a procedure done because as an infant because I was born with I guess the uh, hole to my vagina being blocked or like sealed together almost. I also think I might have an enlarged clitoris but I genuinely have no idea. After learning this I did some research and stumbled on the word intersex and I could relate to some of the symptoms and conditions people talked about, as well as some common experiences for intersex people born female. I don't know if that makes me intersex at all, I guess I don't even really know what would constitute an intersex person.

 

I guess I don't know what to do or who to ask for advice. The weird thing about it all is that in private I actually kinda like it. Like I wish I wasn't on spironolactone because the facial hair and the deeper voice and everything kinda made me feel strangely good. I was really self conscious about it in public before I figured out ways to manage it, but I still kinda miss it.

I was born intersex, and have plumbing for both. My parents decided to leave things be and assigned me male, opposite of your case. 

Puberty decided that the doctor and my parents made the wrong choice. That is basically when things do go south when choices were made in error. 

In my case I grew curves and breasts, I still have them. 

Lack of muscle mass and facial/body hair took me to a sports doctor in my 20's. I did 2 years of testosterone treatments that really only made me gain muscle and facial hair. I still look like a woman. 

You need to talk to your doctor about things. He will order several tests including an ultrasound and chromosomes test. 

There the doctor will change your records to reflect intersex, although it doesn't really changed anything much more than that. 

In my case I have just accepted that I am "female", that's how I look and feel. I'll live what my body wants to lead me. 

Perhaps in your case your body is leaning the other direction, and the body knows best. It knows what it is. 

Might go see counseling as well. I did 😉

 

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Who's Online   4 Members, 1 Anonymous, 127 Guests (See full list)

    • Mmindy
    • Betty K
    • Adrianna Danielle
    • Ashley0616
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      80.5k
    • Total Posts
      767.2k
  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      11,941
    • Most Online
      8,356

    Miss Cormac
    Newest Member
    Miss Cormac
    Joined
  • Today's Birthdays

    1. Amyjay
      Amyjay
      (58 years old)
    2. bettyjean
      bettyjean
    3. Breanna
      Breanna
      (52 years old)
    4. Emily Ayla
      Emily Ayla
    5. JET182
      JET182
  • Posts

    • Ashley0616
      Good evening to you as well @Mmindy   That is awesome that you have support from her side. My dad has communicated with me once and that was because he was forced to. His new wife wanted to spend time with my kids. He hated me so much he was in the process of taking my rights away as a parent to my two boys. He was talking to a lawyer and I called him out on it. I don't love him at all. I'll respect him because I wouldn't be here without him but I wished I had another father. My uncles don't talk to me and unfriended me on Facebook. Almost all cousins except for two are still Facebook friends but they don't give me any support. My mom said she won't support me with that but she has said that she loves me. I have nieces and nephews that are still Facebook friends but they have yet to talk to me. I have one sister that supports me out of three. The other's disrespect me by deadnaming me. They have never called me their sister. I think for them they think it's still a phase. They don't ask questions about me being trans. I have to bring it up and on the look of their faces they don't look comfortable about it. 
    • Mmindy
      Good evening @Ashley0616,   I just got offline with HP tech support trying to get my printer tool box icon locked to my tool bar. This is one of the most important features of my printer that I like because it keeps track of ink, paper, and scanned documents. I'm diffidently not a computer geek.   I'll catch up with the other bookmarks next week. We leave to go home for the Easter Holiday with our families. Saturday with her side, and Sunday with my side. What's odd about that is I'm out to more of her side and they're reluctantly supportive. My side on the other hand are less supportive, and my sister just under me in age will not acknowledge my being there. She will be constantly moving to keep from dealing with me. I'm dead to her.   Hugs,   Mindy🌈🐛🏳️‍⚧️🦋  
    • Ashley0616
      I used to follow baseball and the team I would cheer for is Boston Red Sox. My favorite player was Papi. He was an awesome guy and even held a child during the National Anthem. I haven't watched baseball for a long time. It just died off to me. 
    • Ashley0616
      That stinks that nothing transferred, and no bookmarks were saved! 
    • Ashley0616
      I'm doing patches for now but I think soon I'll go to shots because it's hard to alternate when you are doing two xx patches at once. Unless she gives me Estradiol and progesterone
    • Sally Stone
      Go Cleveland Guardians!  I love baseball and I loved playing it when I was younger.  
    • Sally Stone
      My view is we are "dependent" on government, because as a society, we are too lazy to stay actively involved. So, we let politicians do our bidding for us.  I think we'd be in a better place government wise if we policed the actions of our politicians.  We elected them; they work for us.  Sadly, we are allowing them to run amok.  We are where we are because we have chosen to let politicians make all decisions without us.  Remember "by the people, for the people?" That was the intent of our democracy.  Today, however, it is "by the politicians, for the politicians," the people be damned. 
    • Mmindy
      "Play Ball! Batter Up!" is the closing line of the National Anthem as far as I'm concerned. It's the call of the Home Plate Umpire and signals the start of the game. I grew up in the TV and Radio broadcast of the St. Louis Cardinals. Harry Caray, Jack Buck, Tim McCarver, and Mike Shannon, were the voices on my transistor radio. KMOX 1120 AM pushing 50,000 watts of Class A clear-channel non-directional signal. It could be picked up all across MO, IL, IN to the East. KS, OK, CO to the West. IA, MN to the North, and KY, TN, AR to the South. There has always been a rivalry against the Chicago Cubs, in the National League. As for the American League, I have to pull for the Kansas City Royals. I've also been a Little League Umpire, and fan of everything the Little League stands for. Going to Williamsport, PA and seeing the Little League World Series is in my top 10 things to do on my bucket list.   Mindy🌈🐛🏳️‍⚧️🦋
    • Mmindy
      Good evening everyone,   I don't think my mother ever cooked a meal that I didn't like. We also had a kitchen where mom fixed the food, dad filled your plate, and you eat it. It wasn't until our baby brother was born that we could have Pop-Tarts for snacks. Before that all snacks had to meet mom's approval, and in her opinion wouldn't prevent you from eating supper.   Well my day started off on a good note, but has become frustrating because my IT person didn't transfer my saved videos I use for teaching. Then I found out that they didn't save any of my book marks for websites I use frequently.   Best wishes, stay motivated,   Mindy🌈🐛🏳️‍⚧️🦋
    • MaeBe
      The number is relative to method of deliver, the time of the dose, and when the blood is drawn. However, I do want to keep away from DVT and other potential issues. I assume I may be getting backed down from my current dose, but my doc told me to stick with the higher dose, so? I also wonder if this has anything to do the my breast growth and mental changes that have been happening over the past few years, like I have some estrogen sensitivity so a little goes a long way or something? I don't have enough data to postulate, but who knows!   With weekly, subcutaneous, shots you expect to see big swings of serum level estradiol from shot to peak to trough. My doctor is interested in mid-week testing (for E and T levels only), which would be post-peak blood serum levels but they will be higher than trough. Most, if not all, resources I've seen online is to measure at trough (which I might do just to do it next time) along with a SHBG, LH, and other metrics.   This is from transfemscience.org for Estradiol valerate in oil, which is very spiky compared to some other estradiol combinations. It's also for intramuscular, which will have a slower uptake and is usually dosed in higher volume due to the slower absorption rate from muscles. They don't have subcutaneous numbers, which I would expect to see similar spikes but higher levels at similar doses due to the relatively higher absorption rate direct from fat.   Are you doing pills, shots, or patches? And when you do get your levels checked are you getting that done when your levels are lowest or some other time?
    • Willow
      Both of my parents were from the “North Shore” of Boston.  My mother Lynn and my father Swampscot.  They had an early 1900s Scots-Irish New England diet.  My sister and I were born in the 40s in Ohio well away from New England seafood and in an area where food was more German and Polish.  My first experience with liver and onions was during basic training.  They ate salt cod but never forced us to eat it same with oysters.  My dad ate oysters but my mother wouldn’t.  Anyone who ever ate an oyster can figure that one out.  I grew up eating lamb.  My wife won’t touch it. I love brazed ox tail, again no way. And the list goes on.  
    • KathyLauren
      My mother was German, so yes, I think it was a cultural thing.  If I'd known you when we were cleaning out my mother's place, I could have sent you her "threat jar". 
    • Adrianna Danielle
      Been taking it real easy.Another good neighbor of mine and his 15 year old son came over and cut down a couple dead trees on my property.Knew not to do it taking it easy.I had them put the wood near my fire pit in the back yard.Did it and happy where they put it.They knew I had stents put in and needed to take it easy
    • Ashley0616
      Wow that is a high number for Estradiol good grief! Testosterone levels are better than mine. I don't remember my Estradiol level but testosterone was 80. To me that is really high but it was in the two hundreds the check in before last one. 
    • Ivy
      I don't understand why this would make a difference being a "dad" I mean, as far as how they would grow.
  • Upcoming Events

Contact TransPulse

TransPulse can be contacted in the following ways:

Email: Click Here.

To report an error on this page.

Legal

Your use of this site is subject to the following rules and policies, whether you have read them or not.

Terms of Use
Privacy Policy
DMCA Policy
Community Rules

Hosting

Upstream hosting for TransPulse provided by QnEZ.

Sponsorship

Special consideration for TransPulse is kindly provided by The Breast Form Store.
×
×
  • Create New...