The video titled “I Found Out I Was Intersex At 14 | BORN DIFFERENT” follows the journey of Joyce, a 21-year-old woman who discovered she was intersex at the age of 14. Born with XY chromosomes and insensitive to testosterone, Joyce developed outwardly female characteristics, but had no female reproductive organs. Initially shocked by the news, Joyce struggled with her identity and the realization that she would not be able to have biological children. Sharing her story on social media, Joyce met her current boyfriend, Angus, who accepted her for who she is. Despite concerns from Angus’ family about their future together, Joyce remains hopeful about adopting or having children through surrogacy. By being open about her experience, Joyce hopes to reach other intersex individuals who may feel ashamed or hesitant to share their stories. Through her journey, Joyce demonstrates that it’s okay to embrace one’s true self and find love and acceptance.
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I was 14 years old when I discovered that I was an interex person I had to do an ultrasound to look at my female reproductive organs and the doctor told me that he couldn’t see anything I immediately started crying I didn’t want to date boys at that point because it’s
Scary to just like tell them I was an interex person my current boyfriend have been uh together a year my mother she was very cautious at the beginning she did always know I wanted to have kids so she’s like like are you sure I think I was like 11 years old
When I started really doing my makeup and that kind of things I always really felt like feminine uh I think because I also just grew up with the idea that I was a girl I’m Joyce I’m 21 years old and I’m an intersex person girls have XX
Gromes boys have XY chromosomes I have endogen intivity syndrome but basically means that I have XY chromosomes but uh because I’m 100% uh insensitive to andrens or testosterone I um developed as a woman in the uterus I identify as a female I always felt like a female so
When I got my diagnosis at first I was a bit struggling like with my own identity I was like am I a boy am I a girl I was like 14 years old when I discovered that I was an interex person was of course for all of is uh shock because we didn’t
Know what it was I have never heard of intersects before I was diagnosed and also my parents didn’t know what it was is this me yeah yeah and how old was I here uh seven and at this age I think I was also really tall already right yes uh you
Were always tall when I was younger day I went to do pediatrician uh regularly to get a check up on how uh tall I was growing I also had really a lot of pain in my back because I was growing so much and I always was really really tired I
Always thought there was something happened but I didn’t know what it was I went to the pediatrician with my mom for just checkup and uh then they discovered that uh my hormone levels were really high I needed to do an ultrasound um to look at my female reproductive organs
And the doctor told me when he was doing the ultr sound that he couldn’t see anything so that was like a really big shock to me and I immediately started crying and had an awful day that I will always remember I think just afterwards my diagnosis that was just the most
Confusing and negative time at the beginning we are worried because we didn’t know uh what interex was and uh we heard uh you can’t have children of your own and you are so good with children uh so yeah we worried about that at that time I was in the middle of
Puberty and really finding out who I was as a person so when I got my diagnos it it was kind of difficult for me it was just a really uh hard time for all of us but I have amazing family and they were just really accepting and helping me
Also with all of the things that I went through uh at such a young age you know there are good days and there are bad days of course but the inter that’s the funny thing with intersection you can accept yourself but you always will have like part of your lives that it is
Harder that you have a diagnosis CU I see friends of mine that are going to get pregnant and uh will have children and I will be not able to have those kind of things sometimes it will hurt a little bit more I understand that’s why I’m so proud of you because you’ve been
Strong a strong woman about This my current boyfriend I met on a dating app been H together a year in the middle of puberty I saw a lot of my friends started dating boys and I was just somewhere else with my head I didn’t want to date boys at that point
Was really scary to just like tell them I was an interex person but then I started to put that all on my social media so I never had to like tell them face to face so that was always like a really safe place for me to just keep the the distance a little
Bit let’s go take the dogs for walk I know he t a friend uh of his that um it was matched with me on Tinder and that I’m an intersex person and he was like do you think I should go on a date with her but then the friend told him
Like of course just go on a date with her you don’t know what’s going to happen and maybe you really like her before you meet with some people you go look them up online and you go uh and you try to find something about them and uh it happened to be when
I Googled joice but it’s not something that held me back I was planning on telling my parents my sister was also a very nosy person just like me and she was looking up Joyce and my mother Googled her as well so they found out through that way they’re like hey um
Is there anything you want to tell us I was like not not particularly cuz it’s not like I’m ashamed or anything but it’s just like how it’s it’s quite a delicate subject sometimes like how do I introduce it properly without like a stigma or anything around it so of
Course me and G can’t have uh children of her own in the future because I don’t have any female reprodu itive organs but yeah I still have a big wish to maybe be a mom in the future so we discussed H that we can adopt or uh have children to
Sorac my mother she was very cautious at the beginning she didn’t always know I wanted to have kids and uh I’m quite a family person and uh so she was like like are you sure just being a cautious par and just warning me like hey have
You really F well and clear about it but the most important thing is that you also become an parent with someone who you truly love and uh share a special bond with so yeah that’s uh that’s that’s joy for me yeah interex is always being a really big taboo I would wish
That uh all the people knew about what interex just basically is so that other people that are diagnosed as an interex person they would see that it wasn’t just really a big thing to be interex I think the main reason for the Stig as people just do not understand what it
Entails and if people do start to understand what it entails it would lead to so much less confusion and maybe to perhaps more acceptance our relationships like any other it’s not different from previous ones I’ve had it is possible to have a normal meaningful relationship uh with someone who’s
Intersex a lot of people still feel ashamed about being intersect because there wasn’t um being spoken about out so there are a lot of interex person that don’t want to tell their story so I hope my story reaches them and they see you can just talk about it and it’s fine
To just be who you Are
Author Video Description
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JOYCE grew up thinking she was just like any other girl – but at the age of 14 doctors discovered she was actually an intersex person. After years of wondering why she was so tall, Joyce’s mum, Karin, had taken her for tests when it was discovered that she had XY chromosomes – making her genetically male – and an ultrasound confirmed that Joyce had no female reproductive organs. Because her body was insensitive to testosterone, she had developed outwardly female characteristics – a condition known as androgen insensitivity syndrome. At the time, Joyce admits the news was “a shock” to her and her family, as they had “never heard of intersex before.” She remembers how she “immediately started crying” and it took a long time to come to terms with the idea that she would never be able to have children that would be biologically hers. And as Joyce’s friends explored dating and relationships, she avoided boys – finding it “really scary to tell them I was an intersex person.” Now 21 years old, Joyce has accepted her identity and in recent years she decided to be much more open about her story on social media. When she met her current boyfriend, Angus, on a dating app a year ago, he was aware that Joyce was intersex. And whilst Angus’ family were “cautious” about Joyce’s inability to have biological children with him in the future, that did not deter him: “The most important thing is that you become a parent with someone who you truly love and share a special bond with – that’s Joyce for me.” And with so much loving support around her, Joyce hopes that by sharing her story, she will reach other young intersex people who find themselves at an earlier stage of their own acceptance journey: “Intersex has always been a really big taboo. There are a lot of intersex people who don’t want to tell their story, so I hope my story reaches them and they can see… It’s fine to just be who you are.”
Follow Joyce:
https://www.instagram.com/joycekiela
@joycekiela2808
Videographer: Inigo Garayo
Producers: Kim Nguyen, Tom Buckman & Georgia Embling
Editor: Renee Wong
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Video “I Found Out I Was Intersex At 14 | BORN DIFFERENT” was uploaded on 03/16/2024 to Youtube Channel truly