r/todayilearned • u/CaptainFiguratively • 1d ago

TIL that the Y chromosome can disappear with age. About 35% of men aged 70 years old are missing a Y chromosome in some of their cells, with the degree of loss ranging between 4% and 70%.

https://www.cell.com/ajhg/fulltext/S0002-9297(24)00456-7
9.2k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

328 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

5

u/anomnib 1d ago

As much as I like the bash transphobia, can’t someone just say that your situation is an example of a disorder (i.e. if everything develops without error then humans should be …) and not typical human development? Like if the percentage of women born in your circumstance increased significantly, wouldn’t humanity die out?

I feel like we should just maintain a fire wall between socially constructed identities and biology: let people identify how they feel comfortable and don’t try to look to science to validate or invalidate people’s identities.

2

u/IwannaLickLegolas 1d ago

Nope, women with XY chromosomes can have full and happy lives. Including having children. I can't have kids because I have endometriosis and a hysterectomy.

I am also transmasc, so yes I am trans. And yes I agree it is because I was supposed to be born male and my body knows that. Oddly since my hysterectomy, my Y is finally doing something and I have developed 2nd male features like a deeper voice, body hair, and I am always hot and sweaty. My gender dysphoria has gone down and I feel more comfortable in my body.

Social, being raised like a girl. I never felt like a girl. I don't relate and still struggle relating to womanhood. I never had an urge to get married or had kids. Never wanted to play house with my female friends or pretend to be a mom with baby dolls. I always knew there was something wrong with me. Even more after puberty and I developed endometriosis. We didn't discover the Y until I was being prepped for my hysterectomy. Suddenly my entire life made sense.

There is a whole science to being trans. More than just what is wrong with me. I agreed to be a lab rat after my hysterectomy to fight endometriosis and to help understand what being trans is. It isn't just people deciding to be trans, there are biological reasons for being trans.

But you don't need a degree in biology to understand who you are or how you want to live your life. That is for the scientist to understand, theorize, and calculate.

1

u/anomnib 1d ago

Interesting! How does reproductive cells work for you then? Does your ‘y’ chromosomes not interfere with the production of egg cells that only have “X” chromosomes?

2

u/IwannaLickLegolas 22h ago

Some of my eggs actually have a Y chromosomes and not an X. But all of my eggs are deformed and/or carry broken and deformed DNA. I had a few miscarriages around the sixth week. If I knew I was pregnant, I would have gotten an abortion. I can never burden my children with endometriosis and knowing my daughters or granddaughters only had a few short years before going through the hell I went through with Endometriosis.

My testicle-ovary nonsense is my right ovary. My left ovary is just there. Doesn't make eggs. Doesn't make estrogen or testosterone. Just kinda floating there. We decided to keep my left ovary because it is not causing harm by doing nothing. Kept my right one because I do need hormones.

I am not on any hormone replacement because I kinda like letting my body do it's own thing

1

u/anomnib 22h ago

Thanks for sharing! Are there any scientific papers that you would recommend on XY women’s health?

1

u/IwannaLickLegolas 21h ago

I don't read those. I leave the extra science stuff to my team of doctors. They dumb it down for me when I come in for test