Under this section of our FAQ, you will find basic explanations for some of the types of DSD. Several dozen conditions count as “disorders of sex development” (DSD). Remember that DSD are defined by the medical community as “congenital conditions in which development of chromosomal, gonadal or anatomic sex is atypical.” So “DSD” is an umbrella term covering a wide variety of conditions in which sex develops differently from typical male or typical female development.
It is impossible to give a precise number of conditions that count as DSD for several reasons: (1) Some conditions might legitimately be grouped as one general type or counted individually, and so the total number of DSD would differ depending on how you count. So, for example, there are many variations on genetic mosaicism of sex chromosomes (some people have XX/XY; some have XO/XY; and so forth), and we’d have to decide whether to count those variations as one DSD or several. “Gonadal dysgenesis” may similarly be used to refer to a number of different developmental conditions. (2) Some conditions in some circumstances lead to atypical sex development and in other cases do not. Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia is one such condition. (3) Medical scientists are still finding new and sometimes subtle variations on various DSD.
Posted in: Specific Conditions