Expert: Gender Testing 'Imperfect' for Female Athletes - CNN.Com

21/5/2014 Expert: Gender testing 'imperfect' for female athletes - CNN.com

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Expert: Gender testing 'imperfect' for SHARE THIS Print female athletes Email By Ann J. Curley, CNN More sharing Recommend 1.2k August 8, 2012 Updated 1304 GMT (2104 HKT)

Most Popular Today's five most popular stories

Caster Semenya celebrates taking silver at the IAAF World Championships in 2011. World's best new skyscraper is ...

Pamela Anderson reveals sexual abuse: 'I just STORY HIGHLIGHTS (CNN) Middledistance runner Caster Semenya carried the South wanted off this earth' South Africa's Caster Semenya African flag last month in opening ceremonies for the 2012 Olympic underwent gender testing in Games in London. Zooey Deschanel: No makeup, and no filter 2009 Various methods have been That was quite a change for the powerhouse runner, who three Army declares martial law in Thailand; government wasn't informed, aide says used to test athletes' gender years ago was scrutinized for issues other than her athletic The London Olympic Committee performance before being cleared to compete. Hiroshima's Shimanami Kaido: One of the world's has instituted a new testing most incredible bike routes policy Semenya gained attention in 2009 before the World Championships "There's no simple test to determine gender," expert says in Berlin not for her athletic prowess, but because some questioned the then18yearold's gender.

Her masculine appearance had raised concerns and complaints to More from CNN Video the International Association of Athletics Federations, the governing body for all international athletic competitions outside the Olympics. Scuba assault caught on camera

Before the World Championships began, the IAAF confirmed Semenya was being tested for gender verification. Girl begs to return to foster family The concept of gender testing for athletes is not new. Various methods have been used to assure that men do not compete as women, which would give them an unfair athletic advantage. Video shows Jameis Winston shoplifting While both men and women produce testosterone in their bodies, in men it produces more muscle, adding to athletic prowess. Women use testosterone to produce estrogen, the female hormone. S. Korean President apologizes

This year, the London Olympic Committee instituted a new testing policy that measures testosterone levels of female athletes, rather More from CNN than DNA. The testing is performed only if questions are raised about a female athlete's performance, and must be requested by a WHO sounds alarm on spread of polio http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/08/health/athletes-gender-testing/ 1/10 21/5/2014 Expert: Gender testing 'imperfect' for female athletes - CNN.com chief medical officer of a national Olympic committee or a member of the International Olympic Committee's medical commission.

While Semenya won the gold medal in the women's 800meter in You don't yawn because you're 2009, the win was overshadowed by the gender questions, and her tired competitors complained she should not have been allowed to compete. CDC: First case of MERS infection transmitted inside the On September 11, 2009, Australia's Daily Telegraph reported U.S. information from "a source closely involved with the Semenya examinations IAAF testing," which revealed that she had both male From Around the Web and female sexual characteristics. John Kerry Brings His Dog to Work Semenya had no womb or ovaries, according to the report, and had Vetstreet undescended testes, causing her to have triple the levels of

testosterone of other female athletes. MosquitoBorne Virus Becoming Significant Problem in the Indian athlete under pressure to prove her gender after accusations Caribbean Skift.com While the politically incorrect term for people who possess both Recommended by male and female sexual characteristics is hermaphrodite, the proper term is "intersex."

The IAAF advised Semenya to get surgery because of the potential health issues caused by her condition. No public information was provided about her treatment.

In July 2010, the IAAF cleared Semenya to compete. She took second place in her Olympic debut Wednesday in the 800meter heats.

Commentary: My life as a 'mighty hermaphrodite'

Gender testing has been the subject of debate, and different testing methods hair patterns, chromosome testing, individual gene testing have been used, but no method is perfect.

"There's no simple test to determine gender, so what we're left with Health Resources from is an imperfect system," says Dr. Eric Vilain, a UCLA medical HealthGrades geneticist who served as a medical adviser to the IOC on its new policy for testing female athletes for "hyperandrogenism" Testing testosterone is tricky meaning producing too many male hormones. Signs of a severe allergic reaction 4 big complications of Crohn's Energy boosters for MS Critics of the female "hyperandrogenism" testing include professors RA and gum disease Rebecca JordanYoung and Katrina Karkazis of Barnard College and Stanford University, respectively.

The two say the "new sex testing policy threatens to ban women Sponsored links whose bodies produce high levels of testosterone." Smuk gammel Villa udlejes med pool, 822 pers. udlejes lejeligheder kan lejes They argue in an editorial published in the Guardian that "faulty enkeltvis logic ... links two common but inaccurate assertions about www.masduvallon.com testosterone." Åreforkalkning? Forsk.undersøgl. kræver frivillige. Få mere information her. "The first is that male and female elite athletes have clear and www.clinlife.dk/Åreforkalkning distinct testosterone levels. ... The IOC then projects this supposed Send blomster gap onto differences in male and female athletic performance, En blomst siger mere End 1000 ord. hurtigt og claiming they 'differ mainly due to the fact that men produce nemt. significantly more androgenic hormones than women.'" www.euroflorist.dk

Vilain disagrees, saying that "there's a huge no man's land" between male and female testosterone levels.

He also suggests "there could be no testing, which has been argued," by JordanYoung and Karkazis, "but the vast majority of female athletes I have spoken with believe there should be some sort of testing" when questions are raised about female athletes.

Transsexual athletes treated unfairly

The IOC regulations state that "the performance of male and female athletes may differ mainly due to the fact that men produce significantly more androgenic hormones than women and, therefore, are under stronger influence of such hormones."

Women who are found to have abnormally high levels of androgens http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/08/health/athletes-gender-testing/ 2/10 21/5/2014 Expert: Gender testing 'imperfect' for female athletes - CNN.com may have an unfair advantage, according to the regulations.

The IOC also notes, "Nothing in these regulations is intended to make any determination of sex. Instead these regulations are designed to identify circumstances in which a particular athlete will not be eligible (by reason of hormonal characteristics) to participate in the 2012 Olympic Games" in the female category.

Vilain says he believes it would be "extraordinarily difficult" for women to reach the male range threshold for testosterone, which is not spelled out by the IOC because of differing lab testing methods.

He says that for the small number of female athletes who learn they have high levels of testosterone, treating the condition, whether it is caused by a disorder of sex development or an adrenal malfunction, will benefit their health.

India athlete makes plea for Semenya

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IsmanieG • 2 years ago Exceptional female athlete > must be gender tested Exceptional male athlete > celebrated... Just an observation... 27 • Share ›

IsmanieG IsmanieG • 2 years ago Oh, yes, there is a big difference!! It's not that simple... Take a biology or http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/08/health/athletes-gender-testing/ 3/10 21/5/2014 Expert: Gender testing 'imperfect' for female athletes - CNN.com genetics course and you will learn this.

There’s your genotype, what your genetics say you’re supposed to be. Your phenotype, which is what you actually appear to be. And then there’s your gender, which is what society says you are or should be, and is not always based on the physical...

If the male chromosome, the Y chromosome, is faulty or it is not properly expressed during embryogenesis, then a child will be born with a vagina or ambiguous genitalia (but probably a vagina).

And that child will probably be raised as a female. So her genes will say she’s male, but her apparent vagina will tell you that she’s physically a female. And her family and the rest of the world will say she’s a female and dress and treat her as they fell is appropriate for a female.

And most people won’t know she’s genetically male until she competes in the Olympics and wins a lot or puberty… most figure it out at puberty.

9 • Share ›

Ryan Texan IsmanieG • 2 years ago She has testicles. Dropped or undropped, it makes her male for purposes of sports, as they are producing male levels of testosterone in her. There is no difference between gender and sex. Some people have mental problems and get confused, but that has nothing to do with their physical body it's simply a mental problem. Only in extreme cases is there any gray area. We are talking about the real differences that the hormones produce in athletic ability. We divide sports into male/female for good reasons. If someone has the benefits of the male hormone levels, then they should compete against people with similar levels. 9 • Share ›

Ryan Texan IsmanieG • 2 years ago Easiest solution test the women for testosterone, if they come back too high declare it is due to them using PEDs. End of story. We wouldn't allow men with high levels, and would declare them cheaters. Same would be true with the women. After all, does it really matter if you injected yourself with hormones to win or if you naturally have those same high levels? End result is the same, and if we can set the level for doping, then we can set that same level for everyone of that sex. 3 • Share ›

nullcodes IsmanieG • 2 years ago Ok get rid of gender based sports gender is a subjective social construct anyway. It should be people with natural testosterone levels above a certain value compete in one category, and people with natural testosterone below a certain value compete in the low testosterone category. Problem solved. 2 • Share ›

Mansgame IsmanieG • 2 years ago I'm ok with that. The only other way to make sure nobody is cheating is to just have a unisex race where the fastest wins regardless of gender. Do you like that instead? 2 • Share ›

IsmanieG Mansgame • 2 years ago No, sex differences make a difference and men usually have more muscle in ways that give them an advantage. But a woman who has always been a woman as far as she has known shouldn't be treated as a cheater. 12 • Share ›

ristcanyon IsmanieG • 2 years ago IsmanieG: And she and others with a similar condition may have those same "biological differences" you refer to, which is not their fault. Who should they compete against? You perhaps? • Share › http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/08/health/athletes-gender-testing/ 4/10 21/5/2014 Expert: Gender testing 'imperfect' for female athletes - CNN.com • Share ›

IsmanieG ristcanyon • 2 years ago Nice way to turn an intelligent conversation around to nonsense... 12 • Share ›

Larvae • 2 years ago The author of this has no idea of the difference between sex and gender. Gender is a social construct and this athlete identifies as female, so her gender is female. Sex is a biological trait relating to one's chromosomal complement and primary sex characteristics (testes, ovaries). She is likely genetically male, as she has testes instead of ovaries. If they were to look at her chromosomes, they'd likely find her to be XY (male) rather than XX (female). My guess is that something went haywire in the gene that codes for androgen receptors. Therefore, she lacks female primary sex organs and the article hints at ambiguous genitalia. Some of her cells have functioning androgen receptors and others have nonfunctioning or partially functioning. Of course in the wacky world of genetics, she may have a extra X or Y chromosomes, although these usually come with developmental disabilities and obvious physical deformities. Or she could be a chimera, the mixture of two separate genomes, one being male the other female.

Science is fun. 15 • Share ›

IsmanieG Larvae • 2 years ago genotype vs. phenotype + gender politics = hot mess, brother 11 • Share ›

cariocarules Larvae • 2 years ago According to early articles, her parents have been quoted as stating she was born with a normal vagina...I have never read anywhere that she had ambiguous genitalia so that is supposition on your part. Clearly there was nothing in her genital appearance to alarm her or doctors during her adolescents and infancy that she was anything other than female. After all she was a world class athlete who must have been seeing doctors. My ex wife was a runner who developed amenorrhea for over 2 years which is normal for many athletic women who lack body fat. 2 • Share ›

ReadsBooks Larvae • 2 years ago She is probably XXY, it happens... 1 • Share ›

patregan • 2 years ago The thing to remember from this discussion: please treat intersexed people with respect. 13 • Share ›

Guest patregan • 2 years ago Absolutely, but don't let someone with testes compete against someone with ovaries. It simply isn't fair. 10 • Share ›

Antar Rashiq Keith • 2 years ago IsmanieG, I like your posts. You seem extremely bright. You're right, gender is not the same as sex. You even explain itit is a social construct. 12 • Share ›

IsmanieG Antar Rashiq Keith • 2 years ago Thank you... I'm not even a part of the LGBT community, lol... I guess I classify as an ally, though... but I have a lot of knowledge on issues like these and from my social justice work in college, so i want to educate where possible. 12 • Share ›

cariocarules Antar Rashiq Keith • 2 years ago I agree fully Ismanie. It's nice to see a comments board where reasonable people discuss topics in an informed, centrist way. Too often these turn into forums where the dark side of humanity is exposed. 8 • Share › http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/08/health/athletes-gender-testing/ 5/10 21/5/2014 Expert: Gender testing 'imperfect' for female athletes - CNN.com

RaShonda Harris • 2 years ago She was born a hermaphrodite, having both male and female parts.. its not her fault that she was born with no overies. The whole concept of cheating is when a person knowingly changes their sex or disguises it to compete, i dont think that applies to her, again she cant help the way she was born. 9 • Share ›

shesays RaShonda Harris • 2 years ago Agreed. If her natural biological condition happens to give her a physical advantage, I fail to see how that is any different than a tall person having an advantage at basketball. Sucks for the women competing against her, but that's how it goes. If she was born with ambiguous genitalia, and has always identified as female, then she's female. 3 • Share ›

Chiefpr • 2 years ago More than likely female on the outside while male on the inside pumping out all that testosterone.Not her fault, but hardly fair in competition. The body screams male. 13 • Share ›

sewcalm • 2 years ago No one seems to have a similar reaction to hearing the many physical differences associated with Michael phelps. 8 • Share ›

DreyStaxx • 2 years ago If he/she doesn't have a uterus and/or ovaries he/she should not be allowed to compete as a woman. if you have testicles you are a man. These people are making it much more complicated than it needs to be. 11 • Share ›

IsmanieG DreyStaxx • 2 years ago Biology is not so cut and dry. But it's not like she would have known that she was intersexed if it wasn't for this invasive testing... she was born, was raised, socialized and trained as a female. She prob has genitalia similar to that of a biological woman, even if she's lacking the uterus and ovaries.

If she was born a male, was trained as a male and then decided to be female, it would be another issue entirely, but as far as she has ever known, she is female.

So as it was not her choosing, she wasn't cheating or using an unfair advantage... She was just being herself. She should not be penalized, ostracized or treated differently for it! She's just different in a way that happened naturally... 19 • Share ›

cariocarules DreyStaxx • 2 years ago Drey I wish I lived in your world where everything was so clearly defined. Semanya reportedly was born with a vagina and never knew she had testes. Some develop enlarged clitorises that appear to be penises. In your world that would make them men. It's unfortunate that a woman would be defined as ovaries and uterus, since sex is clearly a complicated combination chemical and physical traits. 6 • Share ›

patregan DreyStaxx • 2 years ago If you have your uterus sergically removed (for some medical reason) then you can't compete the next day as a woman? It's not that simple! 1 • Share ›

jcweasley • 2 years ago Frankly, a lot of the female athletes have a "masculine appearance". They're tall, they're muscular, they're intense, determined, and combative. However, none of them sport beard stubble, which shows up pretty well on the sweaty male athletes. Neither does Semenya, not that that proves or disproves anything. And neither did she win a gold medal. The whiners just need to run faster. Another female athlete did. 4 • Share › http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/08/health/athletes-gender-testing/ 6/10 21/5/2014 Expert: Gender testing 'imperfect' for female athletes - CNN.com 4 • Share ›

rosamarillo • 2 years ago For a literary approach to this subject, read "Middlesex" by Jeff Eugenides. Great book, well researched 4 • Share ›

Bistra Nikiforova • 2 years ago @IsmanieG: you said that "she was born, was raised, socialized and trained as a female" That constitutes her gender. But that does not make up for her being a woman in biological sense. Since she lacks reproductive organs of a woman (she did not know she does not have ovaries and uterus until she was tested at age... 18? what about her period that she never got?) and does not have the reproductive organs of a man either, she is definitely a "third sex." I wonder if she has to compete with women or with men. 6 • Share ›

IsmanieG Bistra Nikiforova • 2 years ago I understand that.

Where gender (social) and sex (biological) intersect is a big gray area, so the rules are not that simple. Hence why its an article on gender testing, not sex testing... My argument for Caster is this:

She's not a man. She's in the gray area, yes, but she identifies with and has been put into a category that she still kind of fits into. And I think that THAT should be allowed. There aren't enough people in her category to even conceive creating another third sex category. Olympics and sport should be more worried about those who have a known advantage, not penalize those who have an advantage that is not their own doing. She cannot help her biology.

The girl won silver so obviously her "advantage" isn't an absolute. Should we then penalize taller players or players with larger hands that allows them to handle ball better? Obviously their genes give them an advantage, but they're not treated like she is. That's not fair. They cannot help it, nor can she. see more

34 • Share ›

Ida Malone Jackson • 2 years ago This young woman is clearly a girl. I've seen other women from other cultures who have manly physical traits. I'm sorry to see that all of this testing has boiled down to "testosterone." If she was born with eggs, then she is a female. Only women are born with eggs. Men are born with sperms. It's just that simple. I pray that this young lady runs the best race that she can in the 800. God made her the way she is so that makes her perfect in His sight. May you give birth to many, many children in the future, if that be your desire and remember that no weapon formed against you shall prosper.

Not all women can give birth, but all women are born with eggs. Not all men can give birth, but they are born with sperms. That is God's way of letting us know what he created us as man or woman. 3 • Share ›

CallyAm Ida Malone Jackson • 2 years ago So I guess you did not read the article or you are incredibly uninformed. She has no ovaries. No ovaries, no eggs. 5 • Share ›

James Carothers • 2 years ago Why don't they just eliminate all this and let every contest be open to anyone who qualifies athletically? 3 • Share ›

7685540 • 2 years ago How aboit we just eliminate gender from the Olympics? 3 • Share ›

IsmanieG 7685540 • 2 years ago sex not equal to gender (though this article doesn't really go into that)... but I http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/08/health/athletes-gender-testing/ 7/10 21/5/2014 Expert: Gender testing 'imperfect' for female athletes - CNN.com sex not equal to gender (though this article doesn't really go into that)... but I think you mean sex from your comment...

Then all women would win pole vault because they're lighter and men would win all races because they can build more muscle.

Men and women are different in many inherent biological ways... So as a true test of their skills and determination as athletes ONLY, they must be separated by sex...

The problem is that there's a smaller percentage of the population that is a little bit of he and her, an almost taboo gray area that's sometimes by choice, sometimes not... So people aren't sure of what to do with that. 4 • Share ›

crazyworld44 • 2 years ago How do you really define a female physically? No ovaries of womb sounds like a red flag....but who knows? 4 • Share ›

FreeDumbie • 2 years ago Just use the "ChickfilA Test"...works every time! 2 • Share ›

Guest • 2 years ago Intersexed almost always means the person in question has testes versus ovaries and a masculine appearance. You rarely see an intersexed individual living as a man with ovaries. Essentially, this makes them far more male than female and gives them a distinct advantage over women without this genetic anomaly. If you are genetically a male, then compete against men. 3 • Share ›

jeffho • 2 years ago Why not simply base the test on external (visible) parts? Getting into internal organs and testerone levels lead to more controversy and certainly testerone levels can vary widely even among certifiable females. 3 • Share ›

taurusdrum jeffho • 2 years ago Because external anatomy is not always an adequate indicator of whether a person is genetically male or female. 4 • Share ›

Guest • 2 years ago I don't get it... either you have a Y chromosome, or you don't. 3 • Share ›

IsmanieG Guest • 2 years ago not that simple... look up XY females 4 • Share ›

CanBear67 Guest • 2 years ago IsmanieG: Yes, but we're just talking about the rules of a competition, not how you choose to live your life. For the rules of the competiton, I think you should be XX to compete as a woman. Anything else, and you should compete in the male division.

There's no such thing as a perfect solution but I think that is the best solution. 3 • Share ›

IsmanieG CanBear67 • 2 years ago Having a Y chromosome doesn't necessarily give you an advantage... which is why I think the article mentioned that they're testing testosterone now instead of simply just genetics... For example: XY females are never males in any way other then in their genes. They never go through the male puberty that gives them the testosterone boost that worries so many...

I don't think that there will ever be a true resolution, but I think it should be determined by the onset of your training: are you identified as a female, training as a female against other females? If you http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/08/health/athletes-gender-testing/ 8/10 21/5/2014 Expert: Gender testing 'imperfect' for female athletes - CNN.com

started off as a male because of your biology at some point, then you should continue to compete as a male, even if you identify as a female later on. The muscle memory and advantage that you get from training is something that can't be turned off so easily regardless if your biology is changed by surgery or hormone therapy. As most Olympians start training from adolescence, I think the unfair advantage that testosterone gives would be nipped in the bud a bit better... it still excludes or discriminates against some as gender is very broad and complicated and we're trying to ascribe rules to something that there aren't any rules to, but hey no unfair advantage!

Transsexuals would likely be penalized the most because of this because they choose to outwardly change their sex (even if they didn't consciously choose to identify as the other sex internally), but people like Caster who did nothing and had no choice in the matter wouldn't... 3 • Share ›

CanBear67 IsmanieG • 2 years ago No, that wouldn't work. Many females train with and against males in many sports. In high school wrestling competitions, it's actually quite common for males to compete against females in the same weight division. Does that mean they should be disqualified from competing as females later on? And we're also talking about rules for a competition here. How could the IOC possibly prove that you were "training as a female against other females"?

If you are going to bother to have a male division and a female division, then there must be hard and fast concrete rules for competing in each. 2 • Share ›

IsmanieG Guest • 2 years ago CanBear67: Rules of a competition are used to control the conduct of players... This is not something that she can control, thus the rules don't apply. And the fact that she won a silver means that her "advantage" isn't absolute, as many factors play into want makes an Olympian. Her genes shouldn't be one of those factors, but a lifestyle is a controllable factor, so I think my suggestion would work the best (just in my opinion, I see your point, I just don't agree, lol)... obviously, there's still some things unaddressed, but there are no absolute solutions. 1 • Share ›

andy6581 • 2 years ago Testes? She should not be allowed to compete. 2 • Share ›

Robyn • 2 years ago Gender is a social construct, not a biological one, and is not limited in many cultures to "male" and "female", not wholly based on the physical differences between the biological sexes. Biological sex refers to whether or not one is XX (female) or XY (male). The article should state that they are testing her biological sex, not her gender, as the only test for that is asking her and her society how she is defined by their gender categories. This is a major difference, and one a journalist should get right. 2 • Share ›

MJSouth • 2 years ago Female athletes continue to see unfair advantage in transgender athletes, especially in triathlons. Certainly not a personal criticism, but there is no comparison in female to male. 2 • Share ›

refugeek • 2 years ago The future is genetic. There will be genetically modified humans. Lots of them. The Olympics will have to deal with this somehow. 1 • Share ›

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Expert: Gender testing 'imperfect' for female athletes By Ann J. Curley , CNN August 8, 2012 Updated 1304 GMT (2104 HKT)

Caster Semenya celebrates taking silver at the IAAF World Championships in 2011. (CNN) Middledistance runner Caster Semenya carried the South African flag last month in opening ceremonies for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

That was quite a change for the powerhouse runner, who three years ago was scrutinized for issues other than her athletic performance before being cleared to compete.

Semenya gained attention in 2009 before the World Championships in Berlin not for her athletic prowess, but because some questioned the then18yearold's gender.

Her masculine appearance had raised concerns and complaints to the International Association of Athletics Federations, the governing body for all international athletic competitions outside the Olympics.

Before the World Championships began, the IAAF confirmed Semenya was being tested for gender verification.

The concept of gender testing for athletes is not new. Various methods have been used to assure that men do not compete as women, which would give them an unfair athletic advantage.

While both men and women produce testosterone in their bodies, in men it produces more muscle, adding to athletic prowess. Women use testosterone to produce estrogen, the female hormone.

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/08/health/athletes-gender-testing/ 10/10