Sex assigned at birth

Sex assigned at birth is the classification recorded on a person's birth certificate, usually determined by a clinician's observation of external anatomy at delivery. It sorts people into female, male, or intersex, and is separate from gender identity, which is a person's own internal sense of their gender.

This is a demographic record of the sex noted at birth, typically based on observed anatomy; it is a factual administrative category and is distinct from a person's gender identity. (Standard medical and civil-registration practice; formalised in birth-certificate systems over the 19th and 20th centuries.)

Groups

• Female — Assigned female at birth, typically based on the observation of anatomy associated with the female sex.
• Male — Assigned male at birth, typically based on the observation of anatomy associated with the male sex.
• Intersex — Born with sex characteristics — chromosomes, gonads, or anatomy — that do not fit typical binary definitions of female or male.

Related topics

• Gender identity
• Personal pronouns
• Gender expression
• How central gender is to you
• Gender-role traits (BSRI)

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