Upon reading the post about the word transgender:

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=502924

Pink quoted this statement "...(someone) who considers that they fall
'between' genders, not identifying strictly to one gender or the
other, identifying themselves as neither fully male, nor female."

Which got me thinking (which is often a dangerous thing);
hermaphrodites have both male and female reproductive organs and can
show either male or female tendencies (the way they portray themselves
in public).

My question is this:
1. What percentage of the population are (born) hermaphrodites?
2. What percentage of these individuals have operations to become
either male or female exclusively? (A best guess using available data
would be fine).
3. Do parents have the option of having the gender change operation on
children born as hermaphrodites, at birth, like a circumcision, or are
the organs just not developed enough to do anything about it? If
development is the reason for not doing the operation at birth, do
parents opt to have the surgery later in life (teen years or age of
sexual maturity) or do they leave the decison to the children (when
and/or if ever)?
4. With this all being said and done, how many true hermaphrodites are
out there? Broken down to how many are dual gender (have both
reproductive organs in tact) and a best guess at how many have
surgically chosen a gender, with a break out of which gender is
chosen. (my guess is 50-50, but you never know)

I know that a lot of this information I am asking for will be
difficult, if not impossible to answer (i.e.; how many are now men and
how many are now women), but as I stated before a best guess based on
information available would be acceptable.

Thanks!

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Clarification of Question by cvenom-ga on 31 Mar 2005 09:47 PST

When I said "true" I meant born with both male and female sexual
organs (not necessarily functioning). It never dawned on me when
writing out the question that some of the "equipment" may not function
properly. So I guess that would be interesting to find out as well. Of
the heraphrodite population what percentage has both organs
functioning normally?

---

Clarification of Question by cvenom-ga on 01 Apr 2005 05:29 PST

Thanks Pink. The info provided pretty much sums up my questions. Post
something as an answer, and I'll accept it!

A researched answer or comment to this question is going to be very interesting.

I have heard (read??!) that doctors do what they think is right at
birth, based on which organs seem more predominant, and that this has
been criticized since it does not allow for eventual recognition of
the sexual orientation of the child.

Apparently the occurance is extremely rare in most places, though a
German TV film a few years ago reported that in one or two villages in
Turkey there are quite a few hermaphrodites, presumably as the result
of incest (with brief pics, limited to 3 seconds, I believe, by TV
controls on explicit genital views).

"True hermaphrodites"?  Adults capable of reproduction with both sets of organs?

????  It seems extremely unlikely that this has been documented or
occurred. Maybe it is not impossible, but the chance that the
individual in any society actually found partners to do so seems
infinitesimally small.

This may be of interest:

"...absolute dimorphism disintegrates even at the level of basic
biology. Chromosomes, hormones, the internal sex structures, the
gonads and the external genitalia all vary more than most people
realize. Those born outside of the Platonic dimorphic mold are called
intersexuals.

In "The Five Sexes" I reported an estimate by a psychologist expert in
the treatment of intersexuals, suggesting that some 4 percent of all
live births are intersexual. Then, together with a group of Brown
University undergraduates, I set out to conduct the first systematic
assessment of the available data on intersexual birthrates. We scoured
the medical literature for estimates of the frequency of various
categories of intersexuality, from additional chromosomes to mixed
gonads, hormones and genitalia. For some conditions we could find only
anecdotal evidence; for most, however, numbers exist. On the basis of
that evidence, we calculated that for every 1,000 children born,
seventeen are intersexual in some form. That number--1.7 percent--is a
ballpark estimate, not a precise count, though we believe it is more
accurate than the 4 percent I reported.

Our figure represents all chromosomal, anatomical and hormonal
exceptions to the dimorphic ideal; the number of intersexuals who
might, potentially, be subject to surgery as infants is
smaller--probably between one in 1,000 and one in 2,000 live births.
Furthermore, because some populations possess the relevant genes at
high frequency, the intersexual birthrate is not uniform throughout
the world."

http://www.neiu.edu/~lsfuller/5sexesrevisited.htm

For Clarification:

As pinkfreud's comment points out, the current politically correct
term, as it relates to humans, is Intersexed.

Hermaphrodite
http://www.answers.com/hermaphrodite

Intersexed
http://www.answers.com/intersexed

Transgendered
http://www.answers.com/transgendered

There are many degrees, both ways, of intersexuality. Mostly female,
nearly half and half, and all degrees in between, and mostly female.
There are also varying degrees of functioning. All in all, it's an
incredibly complex subject. Add to that is trangendered people. They
are physically one sex and they totally 100% feel, with every ounce of
their being, that they are in the wrong sexed body.

Myoarin's comment is correct: "that doctors do what they think is right at
birth, based on which organs seem more predominant, and that this has
been criticized since it does not allow for eventual recognition of
the sexual orientation of the child."  Luckily for the children, that
medicine is slowly evolving to recognize this. Experts these days
recommend delaying a surgical decision until the child has a chance to
understand, and help in the determination process. Decision making in
infancy is happening less and less.

I have a female friend that suspects she was intersexed, or
"something." She vaguely remembers going through a series of genital
operations as a toddler. Luckily her adult sexual orientation is
female. Both her parents are deceased, as are her aunts and uncles.
There is no one to ask.

Intersexed
http://www.itpeople.org/intersexed.php

PS, great work on the stats pink!

~~Cynthia