There is also no agreement or comprehensive data on how many people are intersex. Estimates range from 0.05% to 1.7% of the population, depending on which physical variations (hormonal, chromosomal, anatomical) are included.īut there is agreement that intersex manifestations vary enormously.
Some include having sex chromosomes that are not XX (female) or XY (male), but a mixture or neither: XXXY, XXY, XYY, or just one X chromosome. And some intersex people have female chromosomes but with features of male reproductive organs – or vice versa. In other words, a person’s body, either internally or externally, can be completely at odds with their chromosomes, with, for example, ovaries within otherwise male bodies, or internal testes in otherwise female bodies. Many have differences in levels of sex hormone production.