Reborn: The Boy Who Discovered He Wasn't

Chapter Sixteen

Reborn: The Boy Who Discovered He Wasn't

by SabrynaBrooklynne

Chapter 16

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⚠Warning ⚠: This chapter includes descriptions of the main character's genitals, not in a sexual manner but from a medical point of view. Reader discretion is advised.

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"Jessica, Carol. What we are looking at here is an uncommon genetic disorder that occurs when a person has the genes of a male but his body is unable to respond to the male hormones known as androgens. This is called Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome. or A.I.S. "

Carol sat there in shock. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Was her child really born with a disorder and was she responsible for that? Could there be something she did during pregnancy that caused a defect in her child?

James just sat there. He was confused and didn't understand what this meant. He hoped that the doctor would be able to explain it to him in simpler terms.

"This disorder," the doctor continued, "is caused by a defect of the X chromosome. Such a defect interferes with the hormones that would normally give a person male physical characteristics. It doesn't allow the male hormones to do what they are supposed to do in the body. The androgens are blocked from being able to tell the penis to grow, the testicles to drop, and at puberty, having androgen not be able to do it's job means no facial hair, no bulking up of muscles, no Adam's apple, no deepening of the voice, the feet and hands don't grow as large, the face stays smaller and more."

She looked up at James and asked him if he had studied chromosomes in science class yet.

"A little bit," James answered.

"Okay, Jessica," the doctor began to explain, " The sex chromosomes, called X and Y chromosomes, are responsible for determining whether a person will be male or female."

James had learned this part in school and interrupted Dr. Marcus, "Yeah, we learned that when a person has two X chromosomes, that indicates girl and when they have one Y and one X chromosome that indicates boy."

"Yes, Jessica, having one Y and one X chromosome means that the person is male normally, however in patients that have A.I.S. the X chromosome is affected and cannot respond fully or at all to androgens. This resistance to male hormones causes the affected person to have the genetics of a man and many of the outward characteristics of both a male and a female or they may appear to be entirely female.

"There are two types of A.I.S.: Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome or C.A.I.S. and Partial Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome or P.A.I.S. With C.A.I.S., the affected person's body is entirely resistant to androgens and that person appears to be entirely female, including the appearance of their genitals, however, they will lack internal female genitalia, meaning they won't have a uterus or ovaries. Often, children who are born with C.A.I.S. are raised as girls because outwardly, appearance-wise the doctor, the parents, the patient, no one knows any different."

Are you saying," Carol began, "that Jessica is genetically a boy, but physically a girl. I'm confused.  Are you saying we should have been raising James as a girl all along?"

"No, Carol. Don't jump to conclusions. It's not quite that simple. There is a lot more we have to discuss before coming to any conclusion. I believe it is a little more complicated than just complete A.I.S. for Jessica. Her situation is the more complex, Partial A.I.S."

"Partial? So what are we really looking at with Jessica? How complicated are we talking?"

Carol was becoming visibly worried and quite upset at this point. Her eyes were red and starting to water, although no tears had escaped just yet.