# Can human hermaphrodites impregnate themselves and give birth?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-human-hermaphrodites-impregnate-themselves-and-give-birth/480508
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [January 9, 2009, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-human-hermaphrodites-impregnate-themselves-and-give-birth/480508 "2009-01-09T09:04:49Z")
**Posts on this page:** 19
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2009, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-human-hermaphrodites-impregnate-themselves-and-give-birth/480508/1 "2009-01-09T09:04:49Z")
And if they can’t “naturally”, can they artificially inseminate themselves?
…yes, I know this question demonstrates astounding ignorance of human anatomy.
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### Author:  [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2009, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-human-hermaphrodites-impregnate-themselves-and-give-birth/480508/2 "2009-01-09T09:25:21Z")
For humans it looks like [no](http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Can_a_hermaphrodite_self_impregnate).
[This source](http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/may2001/990225720.Gb.r.html) says it can happen occasionally in other species but even that is rare, since most naturally hermaphroditic species still cross-impregnate each other.
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2009, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-human-hermaphrodites-impregnate-themselves-and-give-birth/480508/3 "2009-01-09T09:56:48Z")
I’d say, first you have to define “hermaphrodite.” There are a lot of variables.
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### Author:  [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2009, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-human-hermaphrodites-impregnate-themselves-and-give-birth/480508/4 "2009-01-09T12:10:26Z")
Only if they are from Nantucket 🙂
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### Author:  [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2009, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-human-hermaphrodites-impregnate-themselves-and-give-birth/480508/5 "2009-01-09T14:08:27Z")
[Intersexuality](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersex) is complicated. Self-fertilization would be so unlikely that for practical purposes it’s impossible. Artificial insemination could work under the right circumstances.
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### Author:  [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2009, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-human-hermaphrodites-impregnate-themselves-and-give-birth/480508/6 "2009-01-09T14:17:22Z")
> [@panache45](#):
>
> I’d say, first you have to define “hermaphrodite.” There are a lot of variables.
From what I’ve read, there pretty much are no true human hermaphrodites…are there? True hermaphrodite meaning having both male and female reproductive parts.
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### Author:  [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2009, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-human-hermaphrodites-impregnate-themselves-and-give-birth/480508/7 "2009-01-09T14:23:34Z")
I know one. I don’t know all the details, except that there were multiple surgeries and this person lives as a man. I assume the surgeries were for “assignment” purposes. He’s in his mid-20s, and I’d have to guess there was some chromosome testing, but I don’t actually know.
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### Author:  [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2009, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-human-hermaphrodites-impregnate-themselves-and-give-birth/480508/8 "2009-01-09T14:25:02Z")
First, it’s likely that fairly soon, with cloning techniques, any human being will be able to create the equivalent of a fertilized egg using just their own cells.
So, I think the only reasonable answer to the OP would exclude anything requiring serious medical manipulation of cells (e.g. treating a proto-egg to make it develop into a sperm) in other words, the question becomes ‘Do human hermaphrodites have both functioning sperm and functioning eggs?’
My understanding – though I’m eager to be corrected – is that while ambiguous and/or some degree of multiple genitalia is not unheard of, having both testes and ovaries is very very rare.
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### Author:  [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2009, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-human-hermaphrodites-impregnate-themselves-and-give-birth/480508/9 "2009-01-09T14:29:32Z")
Not a direct answer, but you might find [—All You Zombies—](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_You_Zombies%E2%80%94) by Heinlein interesting. It is basically an odd fictional example of exactly what the Op asks.
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### Author:  [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2009, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-human-hermaphrodites-impregnate-themselves-and-give-birth/480508/10 "2009-01-09T15:16:45Z")
> [@Quercus](#):
>
> First, it’s likely that fairly soon, with cloning techniques, any human being will be able to create the equivalent of a fertilized egg using just their own cells.
> So, I think the only reasonable answer to the OP would exclude anything requiring serious medical manipulation of cells (e.g. treating a proto-egg to make it develop into a sperm) in other words, the question becomes ‘Do human hermaphrodites have both functioning sperm and functioning eggs?’
> My understanding – though I’m eager to be corrected – is that while ambiguous and/or some degree of multiple genitalia is not unheard of, having both testes and ovaries is very very rare.
That’s my understanding, as well.
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### Author:  [@scodd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scodd)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-human-hermaphrodites-impregnate-themselves-and-give-birth/480508/11 "2009-01-09T15:24:19Z")
There are quite a few females born with testicles. I don’t remember the number but I believe it is something like 1 per 1000. The testicles are usually not visible and are sometimes removed. Many apparently don’t even know they have them or had them at birth. I wonder how many females with testicles are lesbians or bi and do the testicles have anything to do with their sexuality?
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### Author:  [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-human-hermaphrodites-impregnate-themselves-and-give-birth/480508/12 "2009-01-09T15:30:47Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#):
>
> From what I’ve read, there pretty much are no true human hermaphrodites…are there? True hermaphrodite meaning having both male and female reproductive parts.
There are/have been some but they are extremely rare. Pseudo-hermaphrodites however are fairly common but they are often referred to as hermaphrodites.
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### Author:  [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prelude_to_Fascination)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2009, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-human-hermaphrodites-impregnate-themselves-and-give-birth/480508/13 "2009-01-09T16:10:48Z")
I remember seeing photos years ago (no link, sorry, and even if I had one, it wouldn’t be safe for work) of a…person…called the Boston Batwanger that was supposedly a true hermaprhodite. Does anyone have information on that (safe for work info, preferably)?
I would think, answering the OP’s question and staying on topic, it wouldn’t be much of an advantage, evolutionarily speaking, for a person to impregnate themselves. Talk about a shallow gene pool!
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### Author:  [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2013, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-human-hermaphrodites-impregnate-themselves-and-give-birth/480508/15 "2013-11-30T13:31:59Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#):
>
> From what I’ve read, there pretty much are no true human hermaphrodites…are there? True hermaphrodite meaning having both male and female reproductive parts.
I read about a baby in a medical journal that was an XX/XY chimera that appeared to have both a functional testes and a functional ovary, along with external genitalia that I’ll say was more than a little ambiguous, but as the child was an infant it was impossible to predict if the child’s condition would allow for actual functional gametes later in life.
So yes, true hermaphrodites do occur in humans _very very very rarely_. The vast, overwhelming majority of intersex people are not hermaphrodites.
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### Author:  [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2013, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-human-hermaphrodites-impregnate-themselves-and-give-birth/480508/16 "2013-11-30T13:33:49Z")
> [@scodd](#):
>
> There are quite a few females born with testicles. I don’t remember the number but I believe it is something like 1 per 1000. The testicles are usually not visible and are sometimes removed. Many apparently don’t even know they have them or had them at birth. I wonder how many females with testicles are lesbians or bi and do the testicles have anything to do with their sexuality?
If you’re referring to XY females, the rate of non-heterosexual sexual orientation among them is lower than in the general population. In other words, they’re _less_ likely to be gay or bi than their XX sisters.
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### Author:  [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2013, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-human-hermaphrodites-impregnate-themselves-and-give-birth/480508/17 "2013-11-30T14:30:12Z")
> [@Real\_woman](#):
>
> [Troll post removed]
I may be over-sensitive, but I find Real Woman’s post offensive, even though I don’t care for Mrs. Clinton.
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### Author:  [@Strangeland64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strangeland64)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2013, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-human-hermaphrodites-impregnate-themselves-and-give-birth/480508/18 "2013-11-30T14:37:04Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#):
>
> I may be over-sensitive, but I find Real Woman’s post offensive, even though I don’t care for Mrs. Clinton.
I found it weird to be sure
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### Author:  [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2013, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-human-hermaphrodites-impregnate-themselves-and-give-birth/480508/19 "2013-11-30T14:38:43Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#):
>
> I may be over-sensitive, but I find Real Woman’s post offensive, even though I don’t care for Mrs. Clinton.
I’m not sure I find it comprehensible enough to rise to the level of offensive.
(Reported)
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2013, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-human-hermaphrodites-impregnate-themselves-and-give-birth/480508/20 "2013-11-30T15:07:51Z")
Moderator Note
This old thread was bumped by a troll post, which has been removed along with a quote of it (and the troll banned).
Colibri
General Questions Moderator