Question: Seen as people can get sex changes. Is there anyway possible that by using the correst amounts of both hormones, genetic information etc. a person that is half women half man could be created?

Laura Wales answered on 24 Jun 2015:

I would say no.

Being male or female depends on our genes as they code for everything, including hair colour, eye colour, etc. Our genes come from our parents – one set from our mother and the other set from the father.

Genes are separated onto chromosomes and are arranged in a particular sequence so each gene has its own specific place (in normal circumstances). We have 23 pairs of chromosomes – 22 autosomes and 1 pair of sex chromosomes. The sex chromosomes (X and Y) determine if you will be a boy (XY) or a girl (XX). It’s genetically impossible to be both of these so in that sense you can’t get someone who is half woman, half man.

However, sometimes you can get an extra X chromosome. This wouldn’t matter in females (XXX) because they are already female but in males (XXY) it can be a problem and is called Klinefelter Syndrome. Because of the Y chromosome, they will be born a male but may produce female hormones and not enough testosterone, and would likely experience fertility issues. It still doesn’t make them half man, half woman though – it’s classed as a genetic mutation.

When I see a male-to-female transgender patient, they are living as a female and are about to start taking female hormones. Some of them will go on to have “the works” and have an operation to cosmetically change their genitals. However, their genes will still determine they were born male.