Gender verification of female Olympic athletes
- PMID:12370551
- DOI: 10.1097/00005768-200210000-00001
Gender verification of female Olympic athletes
Abstract
Gender verification of female athletes has long been criticized by geneticists, endocrinologists, and others in the medical community. Problems include invalid screening tests, failure to understand the problems of intersex, the discriminatory singling out of women based only on laboratory results, and the stigmatization and emotional trauma experienced by individuals screened positive. Genuine sex-impostors have not been uncovered by laboratory-based genetic testing; however, gender verification procedures have resulted in substantial harm to a number of women athletes born with relatively rare genetic abnormalities. Individuals with sex-related genetic abnormalities raised as females have no unfair physical advantage and should not be excluded or stigmatized, including those with 5-alpha-steroid-reductase deficiency, partial or complete androgen insensitivity, and chromosomal mosaicism. In 1990, the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) called for ending genetic screening of female athletes and in 1992 adopted an approach designed to prevent only male impostors from competing. The IAAF recommended that the "medical delegate" have the ultimate authority in all medical matters, including the authority to arrange for the determination of the gender of the competitor if that approach is judged necessary. The new policy advocated by the IAAF, and conditionally adopted by the International Olympic Committee, protects the rights and privacy of athletes while safeguarding fairness of competition, and the American Medical Association recommends that it become the permanent approach.
Similar articles
- Gender verification of female athletes.Elsas LJ, Ljungqvist A, Ferguson-Smith MA, Simpson JL, Genel M, Carlson AS, Ferris E, de la Chapelle A, Ehrhardt AA.Elsas LJ, et al.Genet Med. 2000 Jul-Aug;2(4):249-54. doi: 10.1097/00125817-200007000-00008.Genet Med. 2000.PMID:11252710
- Gender verification in competitive sports.Simpson JL, Ljungqvist A, de la Chapelle A, Ferguson-Smith MA, Genel M, Carlson AS, Ehrhardt AA, Ferris E.Simpson JL, et al.Sports Med. 1993 Nov;16(5):305-15. doi: 10.2165/00007256-199316050-00002.Sports Med. 1993.PMID:8272686Review.
- Hyperandrogenism and intersex controversies in women's olympics.Xavier NA, McGill JB.Xavier NA, et al.J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2012 Nov;97(11):3902-7. doi: 10.1210/jc.2012-2792. Epub 2012 Sep 18.J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2012.PMID:22990091
- Out of bounds? A critique of the new policies on hyperandrogenism in elite female athletes.Karkazis K, Jordan-Young R, Davis G, Camporesi S.Karkazis K, et al.Am J Bioeth. 2012;12(7):3-16. doi: 10.1080/15265161.2012.680533.Am J Bioeth. 2012.PMID:22694023Free PMC article.
- Hurdling over sex? Sport, science, and equity.Ha NQ, Dworkin SL, Martínez-Patiño MJ, Rogol AD, Rosario V, Sánchez FJ, Wrynn A, Vilain E.Ha NQ, et al.Arch Sex Behav. 2014 Aug;43(6):1035-42. doi: 10.1007/s10508-014-0332-0.Arch Sex Behav. 2014.PMID:25085349Review.
Cited by
- Sex: the last real binary?Bhattacharyya S.Bhattacharyya S.Reprod Fertil. 2024 Apr 12;5(2):e240005. doi: 10.1530/RAF-24-0005. Print 2024 Apr 1.Reprod Fertil. 2024.PMID:38492308Free PMC article.
- Sex and gender issues in competitive sports: investigation of a historical case leads to a new viewpoint.Ballantyne KN, Kayser M, Grootegoed JA.Ballantyne KN, et al.Br J Sports Med. 2012 Jun;46(8):614-7. doi: 10.1136/bjsm.2010.082552. Epub 2011 May 3.Br J Sports Med. 2012.PMID:21540190Free PMC article.
- Do anabolic-androgenic steroids have performance-enhancing effects in female athletes?Huang G, Basaria S.Huang G, et al.Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2018 Mar 15;464:56-64. doi: 10.1016/j.mce.2017.07.010. Epub 2017 Jul 12.Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2018.PMID:28711608Free PMC article.Review.
- Alternatives to amelogenin markers for sex determination in humans and their forensic relevance.Dash HR, Rawat N, Das S.Dash HR, et al.Mol Biol Rep. 2020 Mar;47(3):2347-2360. doi: 10.1007/s11033-020-05268-y. Epub 2020 Jan 25.Mol Biol Rep. 2020.PMID:31983014Review.
- Beyond the Caster Semenya controversy: the case of the use of genetics for gender testing in sport.Wonkam A, Fieggen K, Ramesar R.Wonkam A, et al.J Genet Couns. 2010 Dec;19(6):545-8. doi: 10.1007/s10897-010-9320-2. Epub 2010 Sep 8.J Genet Couns. 2010.PMID:20824315
Publication types
MeSH terms
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources