Fertility in intersex people
Some intersex people are naturally fertile. Others are not; however, their gonads — whether ovaries or testes – are capable of producing hormones. There are also some intersex people who, while not capable of unassisted reproduction, may be able to have children with medical support, either with currently available assisted reproductive technologies (ART) [35] or as new scientific advances occur.
Those with functioning ovaries but no uterus may opt for surrogacy [2]. Those with a uterus but no functioning ovaries may consider oocyte donation.
Intersex people are at risk of potential infertility because of the following:
abnormal gonadal development
gonadectomy for malignancy risk
abnormal hormonal function
discordance between gonadal type and gender identity
Success in achieving biological offspring in males has most frequently been reported following testicular sperm extraction and/or intracytoplasmic sperm injection [7].
However, in a six-country European study, only 3.5% of intersex people had conceived without ART; whereas, 7% had conceived with use of such methods [35].