The Conundrum of Trans Women

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Years ago, ‘doping’ used to be a worldwide problem during local and international sporting events. Athletes had begun using testosterone and other drugs for which tests had not yet been developed. Several international sports federations attempted to stop the spread of this problem, but with little effect. These days we have a new issue, the controversy of transgender athletes seeking to compete in female competitions.

In March this year, World Athletics president Sebastian Coe, spoke after a meeting of the global track and field federation’s decision-making body, and stated that transgender women will no longer be allowed to compete in female track and field events, regardless of their levels of testosterone. “The council has agreed to exclude male or female transgender athletes who have been through male puberty from female ranking competitions from 31 March this year”. Coe mentioned that World Athletics had consulted with stakeholders including the International Olympic Committee and national federations about the issue of transgender athletes. He also added “We’re not saying ‘no’ forever” adding that a working group headed by a transgender person would be created to further monitor scientific developments.

On 16th June Tracey Holmes posted in an ABC article, that the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) released its guidelines for the inclusion of transgender and diverse athletes in high performance sports. The ASC recommended that testosterone limits should be imposed by National Federations to determine the eligibility of transwomen in sport. The Australian Sports Commission CEO Kieren Perkins said the new guidelines were developed to offer the clarity domestic sports he requested. The article also mentioned: There is a well organised group of female athletes who continue to lobby against inclusion on the basis that hard fought gains in women’s sport are being eroded by the inclusion of transgender women???I understand their “angst” Perkins said.

In another article “Testosterone limit push for trans athletes” the Australian Institute of Sport” was quoted “If a sport seeks to introduce a testosterone threshold for transgender athletes seeking to join professional competitions, the AIS suggests it should require levels below 2.5 nanomoles per litre for a minimum of two years.”?

I’m not a medical person, but what is the difference between male athletes illegally taking testosterone to perform better and now female transgender women having to suppress their testosterone level? It doesn’t make sense, and how can that be a “healthy” thing to do? Many years ago, I used to work in the Cytogenetics department in POW Sydney. Therefore, I see this issue from a more scientific angle. In athletics sports, there is proof beyond reasonable doubt, that there is an average 10-12% performance gap between elite males and females.?

In humans,?each cell normally contains 23 pairs of chromosomes. Twenty-two of these pairs, called autosomes, look the same in both males and females. The 23rd pair, the?sex chromosomes, differ between males and females. These two sets of sex chromosomes (the X and the Y chromosome) determine your sex as male or female when you are born. Females have 2 X chromosomes (46XX) Males have 1 X and 1 Y chromosome (46XY)

I’m a sex therapist now and very supportive of the Transgender community, but from a scientific point of view, a transgender female can change any part of her body, but the only thing that cannot be changed is her chromosome karyotype. A fair solution is to have a female transgender athlete undergo a simple chromosome analysis, usually done on a blood sample. If the outcome is that she has a 46XY result, consideration much be given if it would be fair to be competing with a 46XX athlete.

I asked some of my friends this question, to my surprise one of them has a 21-year-old daughter who plays soccer. In a recent game her daughter played opposite a transgender player. My friend noticed a physical strength advantage held by the transgender player, illustrated clearly when other members from her team refused to sub for her for fear of getting injured. I already mentioned before, being supportive of the transgender community, but what about female elite athletes who have been training for years and even girls and women in local sport settings, who have a clear disadvantage. Therefore, my question is: What about them??

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