sex assignment sex assignment sex assignment (sometimes known as gender assignment) is the discernment of an infant's sex (or gametic sex) at or before birth. a relative, midwife, nurse or physician inspects the external genitalia when the baby is delivered and, in more than 99.95% of births, sex is assigned without ambiguity. assignment may also be done prior to birth through prenatal sex discernment. the sex assignment at or before birth usually aligns with a child's anatomical sex and phenotype. the number of births where the baby is intersex—where they do not fit into typical definitions of male and female at birth—has been reported to be as low as 0.018%, but is often estimated at around 0.2%. the number of births with ambiguous genitals is in the range of 0.02% to 0.05%. these conditions may complicate sex assignment. other intersex conditions involve atypical chromosomes, gonads or hormones. reinforcing sex assignments through surgical or hormonal interventions is often considered to violate the individual's human rights. traditionally assignment carries the implicit expectation that future gender identity will develop in alignment with the physical anatomy, assignment, and rearing. in about 99.4% of cases, the child's gender identity will match their sex assignment. if sex assignment and gender identity do not align, the person is transgender. the sex assignment of an intersex individual may also contradict their future gender identity. terminology sex assignment is the discernment of an infant's sex at birth. terms that may be related to sex assignment are: assigned male at birth (amab): a person of any age and irrespective of current gender whose sex assignment at birth resulted in a declaration of "male". synonyms: male assigned at birth (maab) and designated male at birth (dmab). assigned female at birth (afab): a person of any age and irrespective of current gender whose sex assignment at birth resulted in a declaration of "female". synonyms: female assigned at birth (faab) and designated female at birth (dfab). intersex, in humans and other animals, describes variations in sex characteristics including chromosomes, gonads, sex hormones, or genitals that, according to the un office of the high commissioner for human rights, "do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies". these may complicate the sex assignment of a newborn and can result a phenotypical sex assignment that is inconsistent with normal genotype. transgender people have a gender identity, or gender expression, that differs from their assigned sex. transgender people are sometimes called transsexual if they desire medical assistance to transition from one sex to another. sex reassignment : a treatment program consisting of a combination of psychological, medical, and surgical methods intended to physically change a person's sexual characteristics. assignment in cases of infants with intersex traits, or cases of trauma intersex topics human rights and legal issues compulsory sterilization discrimination human rights reports legal recognition malta declaration medical interventions sex assignment sex characteristics (legal term) yogyakarta principles medicine and biology disorders of sex development genetic diagnosis medical interventions history orchidometer phall-o-meter prader scale quigley scale sexual differentiation more... society and culture endosex (antonym) civil society organizations fictional characters‎ films flag intersex and lgbt literature people religion military us researchers sex verification in sports television history and events history of surgery timeline intersex awareness day intersex day of remembrance international intersex forum rights by country argentina australia canada chile china colombia france germany kenya malta mexico nepal new zealand south africa spain switzerland taiwan uganda united kingdom united states