My Body
Will I get my period?
No, you will not get your period.
With all forms of AIS, we don’t have a uterus, so we will not receive a visit from our Aunt Flo. Having your period is a right of passage many women go through, and missing it while your friends (loudly) go through it, is terrible, but here are a few ways to cope with not having your period:
For The Optimistic
Thank God you don’t have to bleed every month and enjoy wearing white pants white saving money on tampons.
For the Dramatic
Figure out your friend’s cycles and pretend you transform into a werewolf during that time.
For the hypochondriacs
That’s not period blood, you just wiped too hard and are bleeding. Remember to always use double ply and wipe from front to back to avoid urinary tract infections.
Will I get underarm hair?
It very much depends.
If you have CAIS, probably not, or very little. When I was in High School, I had a girl call me out because I didn’t have a five-o-clock shadow under my pits (I have very dark hair). I told her just buy sharper raisers. If you have PAIS or MAIS, you probably will grow under-arm hair. All that being said, shaving your pits is a social construct anyway, so don’t sweat it too much, get it? Sweat it?
Will I get hair…
down there?
Hair Down Where? Australia? Oh Pubes! Maybe!
Same answer as the arm-pit hair. If you have CAIS, you will probably not grow any or will grow just a light smattering of hair. PAIS and MAIS, please shave that beautiful bush into a lightning bolt for me, ok?
Can I Have a Genetic Child?
No. With all forms of AIS, we don’t have eggs or viable sperm, nor do we have a uterus to carry a child.
Who needs to have a genetic clone of themselves anyway?
Ok, real talk for a moment, I do need a genetic clone of myself, or at least I thought I did for a long time. When I was diagnosed with AIS my first thoughts were of conceiving a child. As an adult, the more I looked into adoption the more I realized that THIS is how I find my child. That passing on genetics are overrated; genetics are how I got into this AIS mess after all! Family is who I choose to hold in my heart, not in my womb.
Do I have a penis or a Clitoris?
Ooo! Excellent Question! Let’s talk about that!
Well, that depends. You see, the clitoris and the penis are actually made of the same tissue (source), so they have more in common than they have apart. With CAIS, it’s smaller so most people will call it a clitoris, and with MAIS, it’s larger so most people will call it a penis.
With PAIS you have a lot more wiggle room. A lot of people are going to try to tell you what you have for you, but the more important question is, what do you identify as? If you identify as a boy, then hell yea that’s a penis! If you identify as a girl, then that’s a clit! It’s as simple as that.
Do I have uterus?
You do not have a uterus.
No, with all forms of AIS, you don’t have a uterus. There are many other forms of Intersex, though, that are extremely similar to AIS where you may have a small uterus, and are misdiagnosed as having AIS.
Do I have ovaries?
You do not have ovaries.
No, with all forms of AIS, you don’t have ovaries. The gonadal tissue will instead take the form as testes.
Do I have a cervix?
You do not have a cervix.
The cervix is where the vaginal canal meets the ovaries. Why is this important? Women’s health screenings for cervical cancer. We don’t have a cervic, so we are not at risk for cervical cancer, similar to women who have had hysterectomies source.
Do I have a vagina?
Maybe?
It depends on the degree of AIS you have. Let us talk about PAIS where little androgen is understood and CAIS where no androgen is understood. In these instances, yes, you should have some form of a vaginal canal.
The vagina itself includes the labia, the bits of skin making an almond shape around your privates, and your privates themselves. Now, since we don’t have anywhere for the vaginal canal to go, no uterus or cervix, our vaginal canal is short. It’s just a little pocket. It can be a few inches deep, or it can be a few millimeters deep.
Some people may not need to lengthen the vagina to have vaginal sex, while others will. For how to lengthen the vagina, please check out the Love section.
Do I have testicles?
Yes, people with AIS are born with internal testes.
Streak Gonads
Streak gonads are what is formed when the hormones that determine if the gonads will become testes or ovaries do not work. Streak gonads can still pump out hormones, but they don’t really take a defined shape.
Testes & Hernias
Testes are oval organs located in the lower pelvic floor in the inguinal canal. All forms of AIS can have testes, and they just love to pop out and say hello, so we often get inguinal canal hernias if they are undescended. For some of us, that’s how we find out we have AIS before we hit puberty. These testes don’t produce sperm, but they do produce hormones!
Editors Note on Growing Up with a Girl with testes:
I struggled for a long time with the term “testes,” and in a lot of ways, I still do. As a child of the 90s, I grew up hearing “nads” talked about at school, and only ever really thought of them as that reason boys fell over if a ball him them in the groin during recess.
When I was diagnosed with CAIS, no one told me I had internal testes, but I found out on the internet, and I was not ready for that information. It deeply confused and hurt me, as I identified as a girl, and I was scared that this made me a boy. I shut down and stoped talking to people.
I pray the information on this website does not hurt you as some website hurt me years ago, because I want you to keep reading.
Please check out the identity page if you’re feeling confused about who you are after reading this page. Know that you’re not alone, and that nothing has changed about you from before you learned about your body to now. You are still you. You are still whole and complete.
What about my hair and skin?
When you have androgen insensitivity syndrome, you do not produce sebum. (source). Sebum is the natural oil that your skin produces. Without this natural oil, our skin and hair are naturally very dry. For once, there is good news with AIS: we are very unlikely to have acne!
Tips for Dry Skin
Consult a dermatologist for a good daily regiment to soothe dryness, redness, flakiness, and itchiness.
Moisturize daily, and try not to use products with added ingredients that may irritate your skin. For example, I use products without added parabens, fragrance, oils, or dyes.
Don’t take showers or baths that use water that is too hot. I know, I know, this one is really hard for me, as I LOVE a hot bath, but it can further dry out and irritate dry skin.
Use soaps that are formulated for sensitive skin that have added moisturizers in them. You don’t want to use soap that will leave your skin too dry and strip away your natural oils without replenishing them.
Do not regularly do facial scrubs and cleansers designed to remove oil and minimize pores. We don’t have oily skin and these remedies are designed for people with oily skin and can damage your already very dry skin. Just don’t do them.
Tips for Dry Hair
Find a hairstylist who understands dry hair who can recommend deep conditioning options and hair styling options that avoid further damaging dry hair.
Try deep conditioning / leave in conditioners. You are looking for products that penetrate the hair follicle, not just coat the hair.
Ignore shampoo. Shampoo is designed to get rid of oil in the hair, but we simply don’t produce oil, or very little of it, and ridding the hair of what little natural oil we have makes our hair much worse. Do yourself a favor, and skip the shampoo. Invest in a high quality conditioner instead.
