Thursday, September 10, 2009

Caster Semenya and the tale of the gender test

The results are in from the gender test on Caster Semenya, and they've concluded that she is intersex. She has external female genitalia, but she has undescended testes. This is pretty much what I suspected based on her having had female genitalia all her life, but having masculine features...the forehead, larger waist, small hips, deep voice, and larger size...not to mention the blazing speed on the track.

What does this mean for her? Well, I have no idea how the track and field authorities will handle it, but she did nothing wrong. She simply didn't know that she had the situation. She ran 800 meters as fast as she could, and she shouldn't be punished for something she didn't do.

As for the gender side of things, hopefully they have included some counseling and therapy for Caster. I figure she has some things to figure out for herself, but the main thing is to determine if she has any gender identity concerns.

Independent of her gender identity, she has a number of options. The first option is she can transition to living as a guy. Assuming the testes are in functional order, she can have surgery to release her testes so that they are no longer internal. With some testosterone therapy and perhaps a little surgery, she could have a penis similar to that of an FTM.

The second option is to stay female and have the internal testes removed.

Another option is to not do anything, but unfortunately, the internal testes could cause issues...especially if she has a female gender identity. She could experience even more masculinization of her body.

As for racing, I highly suspect that if she wants to run again, she'll need to have surgery or start racing as a guy. Her times for a man of her age aren't too bad, and I'm sure she could get a scholarship to run for some university. Her times aren't that great for a guy, though. She's about 2 seconds faster than I ever ran, but she still has time to further develop her speed. Perhaps should could be the first to win both female and male championships.

If she wants to race as a woman, I suspect she'll need to have the testes removed and undergo at least 2 years of HRT. This would be according to the International Olympic Committee's rules, though, and not the IAAF.

Either way, I wish her luck, and I hope we see her again on the track.

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