Misconception and reality

Chromosomes and gender identity are simply not the same thing

Dr Helen Webberley on Robby Starbuck: transition and children, Robby Starbuck

What people think

Chromosomes determine whether you're a man or a woman. If you have XY chromosomes, you're male, full stop. Gender identity is just a way of describing the same thing in different words.

What is actually true

Chromosomes and gender identity are two completely different things, and conflating them is one of the most common mistakes in this conversation. Your chromosomes are microscopic structures inside every cell of your body, and they influence certain biological processes. Your gender identity is who you are: whether you experience yourself as a woman, a man, or neither. The two are not the same thing, and they never were. It also happens to be true that chromosomal variation is far more common than most people realise. XO, XXY, XY people who identify as women: the neat XX equals female, XY equals male picture was always a simplification, and biology knew it long before the rest of us caught up.

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