A 25-year-old Chinese woman called Pingping (not her real name) went to a doctor to check her broken ankle but found out that she was actually born a man, even if she presented external female genitalia.
Doctors in China explained that she was also suffering from a childhood illness that interfered with her development. The woman also admitted she hid symptoms that indicated all was not well with her health, said a report from the South China Morning Post.
What happened to the woman who was actually born a man?
Pingping had gone to a doctor to have her ankle examined, only to find that her X-ray showed she suffered from a genetic illness since childhood. According to the report, her bones had not developed past the age of adolescence. What’s more, she eventually revealed that she had never menstruated. She turned a blind eye to her lack of menstruation cycle out of embarrassment.
The report said she and her husband had been trying to conceive for twelve months to no avail.
When I was young my mum took me to the doctor. The doctor said I was just developing slower than others sexually, and that I could have my period in a few years,” she told the local doctor.
“After I grew up, I found this issue quite embarrassing so I didn’t treat it seriously.”
The doctors said that Pingping was intersex. She must eventually pick which gender she would identify as.
Despite the fact that she never menstruated, Pingping said she had no reason to believe that she was a man or at the very least, not a woman. She still presented external female genitalia.
Further tests at the First Affiliated Hospital of College of Medicine, Zhejiang University also showed that she suffered from high blood pressure and low potassium, which was reportedly, “a typical symptom of a disease called congenital adrenal hyperplasia, which could lead to a sexual development disorder.”
Parents’ incestuous union a reflection of China’s lack of adequate sexual education
The same report said that another possible reason Pingping suffered from such conditions was due to her parents being too closely related to each other.
Pingping’s karyotype was 46,XY, a pattern normally found in males who have genitalia that is not clearly male or female, said Doctor Dong Fengqin, the endocrinologist.
She also lacked an Adam’s apple, a uterus, and ovaries. Her doctors did not find any hidden testes, and surmised that due to her age, these had degenerated or atrophied. If her health problems had been addressed at a much younger age, she would not be facing difficulty now.
“They should have gone for check-ups years ago. This shows how seriously they lacked sexual knowledge,” they said.
Pingping’s case has highlighted the need for important education reforms pertaining to sexual health and gender in the Chinese education system. Her parents’ consanguineous marriage could have been avoided if Chinese youth were better equipped with sexual education.
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