Update: Algerian boxer Imane Khelif does indeed have a genetic abnormality.
In August I wrote an article about the boxer Imane Khelif, pointing out that genetic gender abnormalities are quite common in Algerian children, and putting forward the hypothesis that Imane Khelif possibly has one of these conditions.
In fact, a medical report has now been published pointing out that Khelif is afflicted with 5-alpha reductase deficiency.
Khelif also had a testosterone level typical of males. The report was a collaboration between expert endocrinologists Jacques Young of the Kremlin-Bicêtre hospital in Paris, France, and Soumaya Fedala of the Mohamed Lamine Debaghine hospital in Algiers, Algeria.
One must have some compassion for Khelif: Khelif has XY (male) chromosomes, but was born with apparently female genitalia, a “blind vaginal pouch” according to the report.. The medical examination revealed that Khelif has no uterus, but possessed internal testicles and a ‘micropenis’ resembling a clitoris. The report, which I assume was supposed to be confidential, recommended gender correction surgery as well as counselling, and said that there was likely to be a “neuropsychiatric” impact.
The fact that Khelif has XY chromosomes was enough to get the boxer banned from competing as a woman in 2023 by the by the International Boxing Association (IBA).
The story was broken by the French journalist Djaffer Ait Aoudia in a very nasty article published in the French online magazine “Le Correspondent.” One can hardly blame Khelif for this situation.
My original article has been updated with this information:
oh ok; good work
Are these birth defects associated by any chance with consanguinesous marriage?