Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T02:31:15.837Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

“Damned If You Do, Doomed If You Don’t”: A Socio-Medical Commentary on “Of Athletes, Bodies and Rules: Making Sense of Caster Semenya”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2022

Bryan Holtzman  and
Kathryn E. Ackerman
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

As medical professionals, we outline the science underlying disorders or differences of sexual development (DSD), discuss the nuances of sex and gender and how terminology can differ based on medical vs. non-medical context, briefly review the evidence of the ergogenic effects of hyperandrogenism, and discuss the medical complications with the hormonal contraceptive use currently dictated by World Athletics to allow DSD athletes to compete in the female category.

Keywords

Disorders of Sexual DevelopmentSex TestingTrack and Field
Type
Independent Articles: Commentary
Information
Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics , Volume 49 , Issue 4: First Amendment Values in Health Care , Winter 2021 , pp. 661 - 665
Copyright
© 2021 The Author(s)

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Hughes, I.A., Houk, C., Ahmed, S.F., Lee, P.A., Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society/European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology Consensus Group, “Consensus Statement on Management of Intersex Disorders,” Journal of Pediatric Urology 2, no. 3 (2006): 148–162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
International Association of Athletics Federations, “Eligibility Regulations for the Female Classification (Athletes with Differences of Sex Development)” (2018), available at <https://www.iaaf.org/about-iaaf/documents/health-science> (last visited October 26, 2021).+(last+visited+October+26,+2021).>Google Scholar
Eklund, E., Berglund, B., Labrie, F., Carlstrom, K., Ekstrom, L., and Hirschberg, A.L., “Serum Androgen Profile and Physical Performance in Women Olympic Athletes,” British Journal of Sports Medicine 51, no. 17 (2017): 1301–1308; A. Eliakim, N. Marom, L. Galitskaya, and D. Nemet, “Hyperandrogenism Among Elite Adolescent Female Athletes,” Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology & Metabolism 23, no. 8(2010): 755-758; A. Rickenlund, K. Carlstrom, B. Ekblom, T.B. Brismar, B. von Schoultz, A.L. Hirschberg, “Hyperandrogenicity is an Alternative Mechanism Underlying Oligomenorrhea or Amenorrhea in Female Athletes and May Improve Physical Performance,” Fertility & Sterility 79, no. 4 (2003): 947-955; M. Hagmar, B. Berglund, K. Brismar, and A.L. Hirschberg, “Hyperandrogenism May Explain Reproductive Dysfunction in Olympic Athletes,” Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 41, no. 6 (2009): 1241-1248.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Curtis, K.M., Tepper, N.K., Jatlaoui, T.C., Berry-Bibee, E., Horton, L.G., Zapata, L.B., et al., “US Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use,” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report: Recommendations and Reports 65, no. 3 (2016): 1–103.Google ScholarPubMed
Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, Classifications for Combined Hormonal Contraceptives (2020).Google Scholar
Russell, M.B., Rasmussen, B.K., Thorvaldsen, P., and Olesen, J., “Prevalence and Sex-Ratio of the Subtypes of Migraine,” International Journal of Epidemiology 24, no. 3 (1995): 612–618.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stovner, L.J., Nichols, E., Steiner, T.J., Abd-Allah, F., Abdelalim, A., Al-Raddadi, R.M., et al., “Global, Regional, and National Burden of Migraine and Tension-Type Headache, 1990–2016: A Systematic Analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016,” The Lancet Neurology 17, no. 11 (2018): 954–976.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olympic Charter, Lausanne, Switzerland: International Olympic Committee (2015).Google Scholar
World Medical Association, WMA Declaration of Geneva (2017).Google Scholar