July 6, 2022

Sigh - Intersex people can become pregnant as well as solid XX women...

https://www.babymed.com/pregnancy/hermaphrodite-can-they-get-pregnant#

I know this because a cousin on my dad's side was born a hermaphrodite, or intersex, in 1963.
I am using the term "they, as that is what my cousin goes by now. They used to be a she, but that never seemed right to them.

Their parents were presented with "a solution" by the family Pediatrician at the time; cut off the penis and perform a vasectomy to have a girl, or do a hysterectomy to have a boy - on a baby.

So they had a "girl". It was cheaper and easier on the baby.

They went through school, got made fun of in gym, even though the testes never dropped, it still looked strange.
Went to college, got married to a safe nerd (their description), and eventually got pregnant. Which meant they saw an OB/GYN for the first time.
Their OB/GYN freaked. And all sorts of questions were asked of the parents, and the story finally came out.
Well, they had a baby boy after a very difficult pregnancy. With some health issues. As for the husband, well -he freaked out too, and there was a divorce. He got full custody, after he re- married, by the way.

So they went through life in a good career, tried to be a lesbian, tried to o be a "woman". But it never worked for them.

At one of the various family reunions, they got to talking to my widowed mom about loneliness and acceptance. Because my dad was well known as the raging liberal educator that could accept everything and everyone as they were.
My mom mentioned that I had talked about a trans male in the military I knew about 15 years ago, and they could talk to me because I was more like my dad than mom was.

So we talked. And we continue to talk occasionally. It helps them. And they have finally found a couple communities that accept non-binary/intersex people, which makes them more happy. They're working on getting the courage up to try and get back in touch with their son, but it's still a very scary prospect.

So yes, pregnancy is not just about women. It's also about trans men who have not yet gotten a hysterectomy or regular regeme of hormones and intersex persons with viable ovaries.
It doesn't "erase" women when HHS and DoD health policy talks to "women and people who get pregnant", because that term is inclusive of the .1% or so of people who become pregnant, whether or not the pregnancy is viable.

Trans men and intersex/non-binary are not as known in the general public. And they tend to be less accepted than Trans women, even within the LGBTQ+ community.
However, there is a small percentage of them in the US military, and that is something the DoD has had to come to terms with.

The more y'all know. Peace out.

Haele