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If a child or an adult is born intersex, I know they both have the reproductive system of a female and a parts of a male, but do they both have the genitals of both sex? Like vagina and a penis?
It’s one a lot of people misunderstand because “intersex” isn’t one single condition; it’s a whole spectrum of biological variations.
Being intersex means a person is born with sex characteristics (like chromosomes, hormones, or genital anatomy) that don’t fit the typical definitions of strictly “male” or “female.” But that can look very different from person to person.
Some intersex people have what’s called ambiguous genitalia, meaning their genitals look like a mix of what’s typically labeled male or female, but not necessarily both a penis and a vagina. For example:
– A person might have an enlarged clitoris that looks somewhat like a small penis, or
– A smaller penis that has an opening (urethral opening) in an unusual place, or
– Internal testes and external labia-like folds, or
– A vagina and XY chromosomes but underdeveloped or undescended testes inside.
So no, intersex people don’t usually have both a fully formed penis and a fully formed vagina. That’s an exaggerated myth. Their bodies just don’t fit the textbook binary categories and that’s totally natural.
Think of “intersex” less like having two sets of genitals, and more like nature experimenting with variations on a theme, different combinations of chromosomes, hormones, and anatomy.