Editing Sex assignment (section)

==Terminology==
Sex assignment refers to the identification of an infant's sex at birth, typically based on observable physical characteristics. This is also known as gender assignment.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Raveenthiran2017">{{cite journal |last1=Raveenthiran |first1=V |year=2017 |title=Neonatal Sex Assignment in Disorders of Sex Development: A Philosophical Introspection |journal=Journal of Neonatal Surgery |volume=6 |issue=3 |pages=58 |doi=10.21699/jns.v6i3.604 |doi-broken-date=24 December 2024 |issn=2226-0439 |pmc=5593477 |pmid=28920018 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

In clinical and medical contexts, terms such as "birth-assigned sex" or "birth-assigned gender" are used to describe the sex identified at birth, while "assigned sex" and "assigned gender" may also refer to any subsequent reassignments, especially common among intersex individuals.

The terminology has evolved across various editions of the [[Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders]] (DSM) maintained by the [[American Psychiatric Association]]. Initially, the third edition of the DSM referred to "anatomic sex".<ref>{{Cite book |title=Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM III) |series=DSM Library |url=https://dsm.psychiatryonline.org/doi/abs/10.1176/appi.books.9780521315289.dsm-iii |edition=3rd |date=1980 |publisher=American Psychiatric Association |via=DSM Library |language=en |doi=10.1176/appi.books.9780521315289.dsm-iii |doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |isbn=978-0-521-31528-9 |id=[https://aditpsiquiatriaypsicologia.es/images/CLASIFICACION%20DE%20ENFERMEDADES/DSM-III.pdf PDF Download] |access-date=16 December 2023 |archive-date=16 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216150930/https://dsm.psychiatryonline.org/doi/abs/10.1176/appi.books.9780521315289.dsm-iii |url-status=live }}</ref> By the fourth edition in 1994, the term "assigned sex" was introduced, with subsequent editions also using "biological sex" and "natal gender". The latest revision in 2022 streamlined the language to consistently use "sex assignment".<ref>{{Cite book |title=Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV)  |series=DSM Library |edition=4th |url=https://dsm.psychiatryonline.org/doi/abs/10.1176/appi.books.9780890420614.dsm-iv |via=DSM Library |date=1994 |publisher=American Psychiatric Association |language=en |doi=10.1176/appi.books.9780890420614.dsm-iv|isbn=0-89042-061-0 }}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=First |first1=Michael B. |last2=Yousif |first2=Lamyaa H. |last3=Clarke |first3=Diana E. |last4=Wang |first4=Philip S. |last5=Gogtay |first5=Nitin |last6=Appelbaum |first6=Paul S. |date=2022 |title=DSM-5-TR: overview of what's new and what's changed |journal=World Psychiatry |language=en |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=218–219 |doi=10.1002/wps.20989 |pmc=9077590 |pmid=35524596 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

A 2006 consensus statement on intersex conditions also adopted the terms "assigned sex" and "assigned gender". Sex is assigned as either male or female, leading to specific terms:<ref name="HardackerDucheny20182" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last1=Hughes |first1=I A |last2=Houk |first2=C |last3=Ahmed |first3=S F |last4=Lee |first4=P A |date=July 2006 |title=Consensus statement on management of intersex disorders |journal=Archives of Disease in Childhood |volume=91 |issue=7 |pages=554–563 |doi=10.1136/adc.2006.098319 |issn=0003-9888 |pmc=2082839 |pmid=16624884}}</ref>

{{glossary start}}
{{anchor|}}
{{term|Assigned male at birth|{{vanchor|Assigned male at birth|AMAB|MAAB|Male assigned at birth|DMAB|Designated male at birth|Male designated at birth}}}}{{defn|A person of any age and irrespective of current gender whose sex was assigned as male at birth. Often shortened to ''AMAB''. Synonyms include ''male assigned at birth'' (MAAB) and ''designated male at birth'' (DMAB).<ref name="Harrington2016">{{cite book |last=Harrington |first=Lee |author-link=Lee Harrington |title=Traversing Gender: Understanding Transgender Realities |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PBMHDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT56 |date=May 2016 |publisher=Mystic Productions Press |isbn=978-1-942733-83-6 |pages=50, 56 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221075208/https://books.google.com/books?id=PBMHDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT56 |archive-date=21 December 2016}}</ref><ref name="Serano2013">{{cite book |last=Serano |first=Julia |author-link=Julia Serano |title=Excluded: Making Feminist and Queer Movements More Inclusive |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IfcuCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA301 |date=October 2013 |publisher=Seal Press |isbn=978-1-58005-504-8 |page=301 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221053236/https://books.google.com/books?id=IfcuCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA301 |archive-date=21 December 2016}}</ref>}}
{{term|Assigned female at birth|{{vanchor|Assigned female at birth|AFAB|FAAB|Female assigned at birth|DFAB|Designated female at birth|Female designated at birth}}}}
{{defn|A person of any age and irrespective of current gender whose sex was assigned as female at birth. Often shortened to ''AFAB''. Synonyms include ''female assigned at birth'' (FAAB) and ''designated female at birth'' (DFAB).<ref name="Harrington2016" /><ref name="Serano2013" />}}
{{term|AGAB}}
{{defn|Acronym for ''assigned gender at birth''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Definition of 'AGAB' |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/agab |website=Collins Dictionary |access-date=14 June 2023 |archive-date=3 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240803145443/https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/agab |url-status=live }}</ref>}}
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More visible adoption of the terminology of sex assignment has led to public debate and criticism.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Debate About Sex Assigned at Birth {{!}} Psychology Today United Kingdom |url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/denying-to-the-grave/202406/the-debate-about-sex-assigned-at-birth |access-date=2024-08-30 |website=www.psychologytoday.com |language=en-GB}}</ref>

There is a consensus in the use of the term "sex assignment" for newborns with intersex conditions;<ref name=":2" /> observed chromosomal sex and assigned sex may intentionally differ for medical reasons (based upon predictions of psychosocial and psychosexual health in later life).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Markosyan |first1=Renata |last2=Ahmed |first2=S. Faisal |date=2017-12-30 |title=Sex Assignment in Conditions Affecting Sex Development |journal=Journal of Clinical Research in Pediatric Endocrinology |volume=9 |issue=Suppl 2 |pages=106–112 |doi=10.4274/jcrpe.2017.S009 |issn=1308-5727 |pmc=5790324 |pmid=29280745}}</ref>