#also not mentioned in the main post but calling some intersex conditions 'pseudo'-hermaphroditism is just so abhorrent to me. it feels like

[skelejon]

Hi! Genuine question because my sibling is intersex. Also if you don't have the spoons to answer that's okay. Take your time or feel free to ignore me. :)

She said H*rmaphrodite is a specific type of intersex in which one has both sets of genitalia which one or both may have full function.

She never called it a slur around me, just a specific term that should not be replaced with Intersex, as Intersex is an umbrella term, and it's inappropriate to call all intersex people that when it only as a medical term applies to a small subset of intersex people.

Is this correct? I try to stay up to date and informed but when different intersex people give different answers, I don't know who to listen to and trying to research the topic leads to a thousand different answers on what the issue is or isn't.

Thank you for your time!

So this is a weird one. Your sibling is kinda right in that there is an intersex condition medically referred to as 'true hermaphroditism' which involves having ovotestes, which are essentially just made up of both ovarian and testicular tissue in varying amounts.

However, people are moving away from that and using 'ovotesticular syndrome' or 'ovotesticular DSD' as the name instead because of the issues surrounding hermaphrodite as a term. While there aren't enough studies to truly say its very unlikely that someone with ovotestes will produce both viable sperm and viable eggs, you'd need the perfect amounts of tissue and to have external gonads to prevent heat killing off sperm, and then somehow the right levels of hormones to produce either in the first place. Which isn't to say it's absolutely impossible, especially with advancing fertility treatments, just that the chances are astronomically small. A large majority of people with ovotestes are infertile as a result. The term 'hermaphrodite' would imply otherwise and actual true hermaphroditism like is observed in certain animals is considered something that cannot occur in humans, and as a result the term is being phased out of medical literature.

There's also the issue of the implications that people with ovotestes are somehow 'more intersex' than anyone else, which is obviously not true. You can't be more or less intersex than any other intersex person.

To try and sum it up, you shouldn't be calling anyone a hermaphrodite, ovotestes or not, unless they tell you it's alright. Anyone who is intersex can call themselves a hermaphrodite if they wish, as its historically been used to refer to and dehumanize all intersex folks (including calling many 'close-to-female' intersex folks, especially those with clitoromegaly, 'pseudo-hermaphrodites'). It is unfortunately still used in some medical practice and is often used as grounds to perform non consensual surgeries and hormone treatments and so it can be incredibly distressing to have to hear for some folks.

I should add there are also a number of 'dyadic-passing' (for lack of a better word. This is NOT me saying being 'dyadic-passing' is bad or inherently leads to this kind of thinking.) intersex folks that are actually fairly intersexist and will use terms like this to go "oh I'm just normal intersex, not an Actual Hermaphrodite like (insert group of 'less desirable' intersex people)" a little bit like how some gay men will throw more flamboyant gay men under the bus to try and seem like 'one of the good ones' etc.