#hypergonadism

Why is PCOS considered an intersex condition and not a dysex condition?

Because it causes variations in the sex hormones. You may be operating under the (incorrect) assumption that the hormone disruptions come from the cysts, which is not the case (and - despite its name - not all people with PCOS actually get ovarian cysts, nor do all people with PCOS have ovaries.)

PCOS comes from the body - either the endocrine or reproductive system - producing more or less hormones than expected (hypergonadism or hypogonadism.)

[pt: Hyperandronic and hyperestronic presentation. end pt.]

Hyperandronic — intersex individuals whose gender presentation is intrinsically tied to, connected with, or influenced by their hyperandrogenism.

Hyperestronic — intersex individual whose gender presentation is intrinsically tied to, connected with, or influenced by their hyperestrogenism.

tag-list: @radiomogai, @imoga-pride, @boingogender, @daybreakthing, @discrophy, @themogaidragon, @interarchive, @charlie-lottie.

Sucrose from Genshin Impact is an intersex transfemmasc (link) bigender lesbian using it/she/he pronouns, and it has hypergonadism, vulvar hypospadias, and labial hypertrophy!

Requested by @silly-interfem-creature

Intersex flag-only, 7-stripe transfemmasc flag, and alternate bigender flag edits under the cut!

[PT: Welcome to hypergonadism-culture-is! /PT]

My pronouns are exclusively they/them. Please be respectful of this.

This blog is open to hearing any and all experiences relating to hypergonadism! This includes hyperestrogenism, hyperandrogenism, hyperprogesteronemia, and more. People with mesoandrogenism, mesoestrogenism, mesoprogesteronemia, and more are also welcome to submit experiences if they believe they fit the description of hypergonadism. This blog is also a great place to talk about other traits that can be caused by forms of hypergonadism, such as labial hypertrophy, micropenis, gynecomastia, macromastia, clitoromegaly, hirsutism, and more.

More info under cut.

Flags for mesoestrogenism and mesoandrogenism based on @isobug's hormonal intersex flags.

Meso = in the middle of, as in between hypo and hyper. I think a "midandro/estrogenism" term was coined before but meso makes more linguistic sense to me ehehe. The general term would be Mesogonadism!

Definition

Intended for intersex people who would have for example, hyperestrogenism by male standards but hypoestrogenism by female standards, depending on what they're interpreted as by doctors. Many variations don't fit into the "more male or more female" scheme that's usually used during diagnoses and discussions by medical professionals.

BUT this can be used by any intersex person who's hormone levels are between typical male and female ranges, or between what's viewed as "normal" or "high" for their assigned sex.

Flag

The format is from the general hyper/hypo-hormonal flags. I put the red for hyper and blue for hypo as the first and last stripes, representing being in between the two. Orange represents androgens, teal estrogens. I recolored the molecule symbol to purple, because its between red & blue and also to keep the meaning of the purple stripes in the originals.

The external intersexism here is having constantly felt too hairy growing up and being told I have to shave. So I used to shave my chest, face, sometimes arms if it got too long, legs, and some long body hair on my abdomen. My acne got more severe the more I shaved my face, so I stopped with that. I still get shamed for being too hairy due to hypoestrogenism, hyperandrogenism, and being SIF.

This is internalized intersexism and external intersexism.

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I have a suspicion that I’m intersex.

Mainly because I’m missing my clit and its hood.

I have everything else. Completely female puberty despite it being a bit early (around 7-9) but that was mostly caused to start early by sexual truama.

I have a higher testosterone than most other afab people, a possible hormone imbalance (I remember it was suspected but I don’t remember even being tested for it) and despite being only 5’2, I’m mostly legs. I also have abnormal periods that I’m on birth control to help tame.

This all leads me to believe I’m intersex.

I can’t tell my mom but I am 18 (I cannot drive.). I go to my gyno for my first appointment in December. I want to ask them about the possibility of being intersex, but honestly I’m terrified.

I understand being intersex is something completely normal but my life feels like it’s changing and I don’t know how to handle it. I feel… different.

I’ve lived most of my life assuming o was just too masculine to be a girl, too feminine to be a guy, and now I’m starting to process their might be a reason why and it’s so overwhelming.

I don’t know why I’m sending this ask - maybe I want reassurance that I’m not going out of portions? I just.. I feel so different now. So alone and I can’t help but overthink everything about myself.

Thank you for listening.

First things first, anon, we are so sorry for what you've gone through. We can relate quite strongly on regards to having puberty rushed along or altered due to sexual trauma. It is a horrible thing to experience, and can cause so much confusion.

If you have no clitoral hood or clitoris, that is most definitely intersex - specifically, it is clitoral agenesis. Same goes for having hyperandrogenism (high testosterone.)

Abnormal menstruation is often a side effect of hyperandrogenism (especially hyperandrogenic PCOS), and could definitely be related to co-occurring menstrual disorders like endometriosis. Just to note, birth control doesn't always help people with hyperandrogenism - it can help some people, but for others it makes it worse, so just keep an eye out on that and advocate for yourself best you can.

When it comes to talking to your doctor about being intersex, a few things to keep in mind are:

1. If you use the word "intersex", they may try to gaslight you by saying it is "not intersex", because they have a narrow view of intersexuality. Most doctors only view a select few variations as "truly intersex," and exclude a lot of sexual variations from the intersex label. But the community itself includes all variations of primary sex traits, and intersex is a sociopolitical identity just as much as it is a medical term. 2. They may use stigmatizing language such as deformity, disorder, or malformation (ie; hormone disorder, genital deformity, etc). 3. They may dismiss your concerns about your body. A lot of intersex people get dismissed when they try to express that they are different.

Being intersex can feel lonely and isolating, because you are forced to feel different. Nothing is centered around you in the general world. But I assure you, you are not alone. There are millions of people who can relate to you. No matter how "different" you are, you are never truly alone, because somewhere out there, someone is like you.

We highly recommend checking out @the-intersex-experience and @yourfaveisintersex when it comes to seeing more intersex people who might relate to your experiences. There is a lot of joy that can come from being intersex, and we hope you'll have the chance to find it.

Best of luck to you, anon. You are not blowing things out of proportion. You are valid to look out for yourself, your body, and your uniqueness.