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Editor,
Thanks you for your short write-up about the complexity of gender identity development ("Gender Neutral?" in Critical Mass, May/June 2005), but the statement "Genetic males with Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome, for instance, may fail to develop penises, yet even those who undergo surgical reassignment and are raised as girls tend to identify themselves as male," is inaccurate and mischaracterizes Dr. Reiner's findings.
Dr. Reiner's study was based on genetic males who are also hormonally male but are born with genital anomalies and were reassigned during infancy as female. Among this group of children, Reiner and colleagues found that a majority tend to identify themselves as male.
Genetic males born with Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome is a different story. Genetic males with AIS do not respond to androgens produced in their bodies (hence the name), and are born phenotypically female. These "genetic males" generally identify as female, are not any more likely to identify as male than other women.
I would also add that it is not accurate to use the word "transgender" to refer to people born with ambiguous or atypical sexual characteristics. "Transgender" refers to people whose identities or expressions of gender are unique, regardless of their physical characteristics; the correct term for people born with congenital anomalies of reproductive organs is "intersex."
Best,
Emi Koyama
Director, Intersex Initiative
http://www.intersexinitiative.org/