What is Sex Assigned at Birth?
Label a doctor gives you when you’re born — usually “male” or “female.” It’s based on your external anatomy (like genitals), but it doesn’t reflect the full complexity of your body or identity.
Understanding Sex Assigned at Birth
Doctors typically use visible traits — like whether a baby has a penis or vulva — to assign sex. Some people are also assigned intersex at birth — or may discover later in life that their bodies naturally include traits of more than one sex. Sex also includes:
Chromosomes (like XX, XY, or variations)
Hormones (like estrogen and testosterone)
Secondary sex characteristics (like voice pitch or body hair)
Reproductive organs
These traits don’t always line up in the way people expect. That’s why sex isn’t just binary — it’s a spectrum, just like gender.
Sex assigned at birth is not the same as gender.
You can be assigned one sex and grow up identifying as another — or as neither. Both are completely valid.
Sex Assigned at Birth & Mental Health
For people whose identities differ from their assigned sex (like trans, intersex, or nonbinary folks), this mismatch can cause emotional distress, especially when:
Healthcare is rooted in outdated sex-based norms
Legal systems don’t allow gender marker changes
People feel forced to conform to a body or label that doesn’t fit
Many people feel pressure to “match” the sex they were assigned at birth. When that doesn’t reflect someone’s true self, it can lead to:
Misgendering
Body dysphoria
Shame or secrecy
Medical trauma
Mental health struggles
The mental health impact of this dissonance—known as gender dysphoria for some—can be serious. But when people receive gender-affirming care, support, and autonomy, mental health outcomes improve dramatically.
This is why your identity — not your label at birth — deserves to be honored. Our campaign works to break down these stigmas and create space for people to live as their full, authentic selves.
Terms to Know
Sex Assigned at Birth (SAAB): The label (male, female, or intersex) given at birth, usually based on anatomy.
Cisgender: When your gender identity aligns with your sex assigned at birth.
Transgender: When your gender identity is different from your sex assigned at birth.
Intersex: People born with natural variations in sex traits that don’t fit typical binary definitions.
REFLECTING ON YOUR EXPERIENCE
Here are a few questions to explore your relationship with your sex assigned at birth:
How do I feel about the sex I was assigned at birth?
Do I feel pressure to look or act a certain way because of it?
Have I ever felt misunderstood or misrepresented by that label?
What would it feel like to live in a body that feels fully like me?
Remember: you are not defined by a label someone else gave you before you could speak. You are allowed to explore, grow, and express your identity however feels right — at any stage in life.
