Progeny of XY females

[Heidi N LeBlanc]

Kevin O'Donnell (odonnell at sasa.gov.uk) wrote:
: The sex tests routinely carried out on athletes occasionally throw up an
: example of a woman with a normal female phenotype but with an XY
: karyotype.  I assume that the Y chromosome is defective due to 
: mutations in one or more important maleness-determining genes.  If such 
: women are fertile (and I assume that this is the case), this means that the 

Actually, I *think* that the cause of the female phenotype is actually a 
defective testosterone receptor - the body can produce male levels of 
the hormone, but can't 'pay attention' to it which can actually 
increase the female characteristics of these people although they are 
not fertile.  I have this from Genetics lectures given by Tony Griffiths 
of text book fame, but I was a TA not a student so I wasn't always 
paying complete attention. For what it's worth, there's a wild rumor 
that Jamie Lee Curtis has this condition, and I read somewhere her 
daughter is adopted.
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