androgen insensitivity syndrome

[an-druh-juhn in-sen-si-tiv-i-tee sin-drohm]

noun

1. an intersex condition in which a person has the chromosomal makeup of a male, no uterus, and certain female external sex characteristics, some of which develop at puberty, due to the body’s inability to respond to androgen hormones. AIS

Word History and Origins

Origin of androgen insensitivity syndrome¹

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

For example, females with a DSD known as androgen insensitivity syndrome have XY chromosomes; they produce testosterone; but their bodies aren’t equipped to process it.

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What the real picture shows is that as someone with complete androgen insensitivity syndrome, which is my intersex variation, my risk of getting testicular cancer was only somewhere between one and 5% — at some point, much farther down the line in adulthood.

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Sean Saifa Wall is an intersex activist and researcher who was born with an intersex variation called androgen insensitivity syndrome, which occurs when a person who has XY chromosomes is resistant to hormones called androgens.

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Many women who have androgen insensitivity syndrome never know that they have a Y chromosome.

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Similarly, if someone has a condition which impacts their sexual development — for instance complete androgen insensitivity syndrome, which causes a person's cells to not respond to male sex hormones — they can have Y chromosomes and some male anatomical parts, but still have female genitalia and develop as female at puberty.

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