Can a hermaphrodite legally marry whichever sex he/she wishes?

The sex is determined by a blood test, if the genitalia is not determinate.

Interesting question. I think in the US they’re still hung up on the idea that, legally at least, a sex must be assigned, so they would probably be constrained by whatever the government legally designated them as.

It definitely points out more flaws in the system.

:|

The question is, can they marry themselves? I mean, if i was a hermo, i’d probably be into me.

Depends on the jurisdiction, of course.

As fundevogel wrote, the question of legality would be based on the legal status, and AFAIK (being no lawyer and having done no research) the legally recognized sexes are M and F. When there are disagreements, it comes down to lawyers, arguments, judges and precedents. I wonder if there’s a precedent. As for blood tests, my memory from studying genetics is that true hermaphrodites are neither XX nor XY.

the term is intersex and a legal sex is assigned to each intersex infant because we can’t fathom not categorizing people – so legally they’re either male or female and they can only marry in most states those of opposite sex. more info here:
http://www.isna.org/

I bet they have to pick one or the other, not surgery wise..but doctors always have “male” or “female” so possibly the parents can chose to raise the child a certain way but not get surgery…but as an adult they can choose what they feel they are.
I imagine they can say they are whatever they want, and if they truly wanted to marry someone they would have to say they are the opposite sex because of our messed up country :(

lurve for the question!
they have to determine which sex they want to be…...

As Simone_De_Beauvoir stated, the appropriate term is intersex. At birth, genetic and hormonal tests are done and the doctor consults with the parents. These steps help determine which gender the child is most likely to grow up as, and the child’s gender is assigned by the doctor accordingly. This practice is advocated by most intersex activists and organizations.

EDIT: This means that in the 44 states still practicing despicable and inhumane discrimination and dehumanization, intersex individuals are limited to marrying people of the gender opposite of what they were assigned at birth.

@lefteh yeah but what isn’t advocated by us is surgery on infants without their consent

@Simone_De_Beauvoir As a parent, I don’t think I could ever make that decision. that’s a whole ‘nother question!

@Simone_De_Beauvoir Absolutely not, and I didn’t mean to imply that it was advocated by ISNA or anybody else. I understand that it is much preferred to allow the child to grow up and make any surgical decisions themselves.

<———-agrees with @lefteh and @casheroo

I would think genetic testing wouldn’t determine sex %100 percent. A hermaphrodite should have both X and Y chromosomes. Usually that means males but not necessarily. Some girls that are born with gonadal dysgenesis have both X & Y and they are definitely female.

A gender must be chosen. There is no other spot on the birth certificate. Legally, an intersexed person is considered a gender. The same marriage laws apply.

@tinyfaery If a parent choses, can the child change it when they are older? If they still have all the bits and pieces..

@tinyfaery- What if one sex is assigned at birth but the lifestyle follows a different sex?

@AstroChuck you should really read the link I provide
there are no hermpharodites (using the technical definition) in humans
intersex conditions span a broad spectrum and should not have anything other than what is medically considered ‘ambiguous’...and if one sex is assigned and the person wants to be a different sex they have to go through sex reassignment

It is actually possible, but extremely rare. An hermaphrodite has both ovarian and testicular tissue. It is an anomaly, almost never seen, and has nothing whatever to do with gender assignment, transsexualism or intersexualism as it is commonly discussed.

If a person wants to change their gender, they have to jump through all the usual hoops. It doesn’t matter that they might have been born intersexed. Maybe things are starting to change regarding this, since it seems more and more people are speaking about their experiences. But the law is the law.

@Simone_De_Beauvoir- Thanks for the link. Very interesting. I couldn’t link to it earlier as I was on the iPhone app and it won’t let allow you to follow them. I’m on the web app now so no prob.

@pdworkin yes it is possible for a human being to have both ovarian and testicular tissue in their body – however to be termed a hermaphrodite an organism must have two functioning reproductive systems and no human has ever had that…even if they had both testicular and ovarian tissue, one or the other would only function or neither would function

@AstroChuck I really appreciate you looking into it. Thank you.

@eponymoushipster If they could marry themselves, they could divorce themselves, and that would be a pretty rough divorce.

@dee1313- Then you gotta wonder who would get the house.

People often believe that “intersex” or “hermaphrodite” means having working models of the organs of both genders. This is practically a cartoonish idea, I believe, in the vast majority of intersex cases. In reality, it often means having something ambiguous or “in-between” – a little too big for one, a little too small for the other, or something like that.

That said, I’m no medical authority – I’ve just read some books. :)

But like the people up there said, there are blood tests done, etc., that help figure things out.

However, since this question is coming from our belovéd @AstroChuck, I have to assume that it was put forth in fun, at least a little bit. ;)

@laureth- Actually, you would be wrong in regards to that last statement.

Well, perhaps just a little.

Like others have also mentioned, even a hermaphrodite has an official sex “assigned” at birth, which is actually hard to change, even with surgery. There was even a case where a pure, 100% “normal” woman was registered as a boy (because the parents wanted a son) and spent her whole life as a gay man, when in fact she was simply a woman. She managed to get her true gender officially recognised at 27. Not sure if she married.

A more interesting question is what happens when someone has a sex transplant. Which changes from country to country (but again, you can only have one official sex at any given time, and will marry accordingly).

@dee1313 @AstroChuck who gets the house? imagine visitation rights!