Leroy Fernand
l'Université Libre de Bruxelles.
Vesalius. 2007 Dec;13(2):77-81.
It was not until the nineteenth century that the heavy repressive measures usually taken against intersexed individuals were somewhat alleviated and a genuinely scientific approach to intersexuality began to be promoted. A first step was the application of the concept of pseudo-hermaphroditism to cases in which the external and/or internal sexual organs did not correspond to the gonadal sex. Through experimental application of the bovine freemartin model, the role of male hormones in embryonic sexual differentiation was able to be elucidated. Consequently, modern endocrinology has contributed significantly to the understanding of various types of intersexuality such as, for instance, the female adreno-genital syndrome and peripheral tissue insensitivity to androgens. Finally, chromosomal and molecular genetics have enabled the localisation of the genes responsible for sexual differentiation and allowed an understanding of the different causes of intersexed cases belonging to the vast chapter of gonadal dysgnesis. Some associations of patients are currently questioning medical and surgical treatments which aim at the production of strict sexual differentiation in morphologically ambiguous individuals.
直到19世纪，通常针对两性畸形个体采取的严厉镇压措施才有所缓解，一种真正科学的两性畸形研究方法才开始得到推广。第一步是将假两性畸形的概念应用于外部和/或内部性器官与性腺性别不相符的病例。通过对牛的异性双胎不育模型的实验应用，得以阐明雄性激素在胚胎性分化中的作用。因此，现代内分泌学在理解各种类型的两性畸形方面做出了重大贡献，例如女性肾上腺生殖器综合征和外周组织对雄激素不敏感。最后，染色体和分子遗传学使得能够定位负责性分化的基因，并有助于理解属于性腺发育不全这一广阔领域的两性畸形病例的不同病因。目前，一些患者协会正在质疑旨在使形态模糊的个体实现严格性分化的医学和外科治疗方法。
