# No Y chromosome in males? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 29, 2004, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-y-chromosome-in-males/282055 "2004-12-29T04:47:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kel_Varnsen_Latex_Division)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-y-chromosome-in-males/282055/1 "2004-12-29T04:47:03Z")
Are there human males who do not have a Y chromosome? ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Joe\_Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Random)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-y-chromosome-in-males/282055/2 "2004-12-29T04:54:13Z")
> [@Kel Varnsen - Latex Division](#): > > Are there human males who do not have a Y chromosome? No cite, but I’m pretty sure the answer is “no”. All of the genetic information that differentiates males from females is contained in the Y chromosome, after all. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-y-chromosome-in-males/282055/3 "2004-12-29T05:05:48Z")
Yes. If the so-called sex determining gene (i.e. for testes) has been translocated from a ‘Y’ chromosome to an ‘X’, it can result in an ‘XX’ male. [Here is the abstract from a relatively recent review](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11480910). [Here is a brief summary from the NIH](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcgi?call=bv.View..ShowSection&rid=gnd.section.156). ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Joe\_Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Random)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-y-chromosome-in-males/282055/4 "2004-12-29T05:21:34Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > Yes. > > If the so-called sex determining gene (i.e. for testes) has been translocated from a ‘Y’ chromosome to an ‘X’, it can result in an ‘XX’ male… Well color me surprised. I had no idea that the intact translocation of entire genes between chromosomes was a (relatively) common occurrence. However, my understanding of things biological can be a bit . . . underwhelming . . . at times. It’s interesting to note, however, that these XX males frequently lack normal secondary sexual characteristics. Just goes to show that even concepts like “male” and “female” are surprising malleable, and sometimes not as black-and-white as we would like to think. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-y-chromosome-in-males/282055/5 "2004-12-29T06:48:29Z")
We were all excited at work the other day because it looked like one of our Fragile X patients might have been an XX male. It turned out, though, that the other lab had mixed up some samples. Ah, well. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-y-chromosome-in-males/282055/6 "2004-12-29T08:00:33Z")
> [@Joe Random](#): > > Well color me surprised. I had no idea that the intact translocation of entire genes between chromosomes was a (relatively) common occurrence. However, my understanding of things biological can be a bit . . . underwhelming . . . at times. > > It’s interesting to note, however, that these XX males frequently lack normal secondary sexual characteristics. > > Just goes to show that even concepts like “male” and “female” are surprising malleable, and sometimes not as black-and-white as we would like to think. So I can say, “He has balls, but he is dickless?” ---
**Author:** ![easy\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-y-chromosome-in-males/282055/7 "2004-12-30T00:58:19Z")
Barring any translocation, a person who is born with a sinle X chromosome (and no Y) is a female with [Turner’s syndrome](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turner's_syndrome). ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-y-chromosome-in-males/282055/8 "2004-12-30T06:35:07Z")
> [@Joe Random](#): > > Just goes to show that even concepts like “male” and “female” are surprising malleable, and sometimes not as black-and-white as we would like to think. Do a search on “intersexual” sometime to see what’s out there. Be prepared for some sad stories.