Integrating Transwomen and Female Athletes with Differences of Sex Development (DSD) into Elite Competition: The FIMS 2021 Consensus Statement
- PMID: 33761127
- PMCID: PMC7988249
- DOI: 10.1007/s40279-021-01451-8
Integrating Transwomen and Female Athletes with Differences of Sex Development (DSD) into Elite Competition: The FIMS 2021 Consensus Statement
Erratum in
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Correction to: Integrating Transwomen and Female Athletes with Differences of Sex Development (DSD) into Elite Competition: The FIMS 2021 Consensus Statement.Sports Med. 2021 Jul;51(7):1417-1418. doi: 10.1007/s40279-021-01467-0. Sports Med. 2021. PMID: 33835352 Free PMC article. No abstract available.
Abstract
Sport is historically designated by the binary categorization of male and female that conflicts with modern society. Sport's governing bodies should consider reviewing rules determining the eligibility of athletes in the female category as there may be lasting advantages of previously high testosterone concentrations for transwomen athletes and currently high testosterone concentrations in differences in sex development (DSD) athletes. The use of serum testosterone concentrations to regulate the inclusion of such athletes into the elite female category is currently the objective biomarker that is supported by most available scientific literature, but it has limitations due to the lack of sports performance data before, during or after testosterone suppression. Innovative research studies are needed to identify other biomarkers of testosterone sensitivity/responsiveness, including molecular tools to determine the functional status of androgen receptors. The scientific community also needs to conduct longitudinal studies with specific control groups to generate the biological and sports performance data for individual sports to inform the fair inclusion or exclusion of these athletes. Eligibility of each athlete to a sport-specific policy needs to be based on peer-reviewed scientific evidence made available to policymakers from all scientific communities. However, even the most evidence-based regulations are unlikely to eliminate all differences in performance between cisgender women with and without DSD and transwomen athletes. Any remaining advantage held by transwomen or DSD women could be considered as part of the athlete's unique makeup.
Conflict of interest statement
Blair Hamilton, Gicard Lima, James Barrett, Leighton Seal, Alexander Kolliari-Turner, Guan Wang, Antonia Karanikolou, Xavier Bigard, Herbert Lollgen, Petra Zupet, Anca Ionescu, Andre Debruyne, Nigel Jones, Karin Vonbank, Federica Fagnani, Chiara Fossati, Maurizio Casasco, Demitri Constantinou, Bernd Wolfarth, David Niederseer, Andrew Bosch, Borja Muniz, Jose Casajus, Christian Schneider, Sigmund Loland, Michele Verroken, Pedro Manonelles Marqueta, Francisco Arroyo, André Pedrinelli, Kostas Natsis, Evert Verhagen, William Roberts, José Kawazoe Lazzoli, Rogerio Friedman, Ali Erdoğan, Ana Cintron, Patrick Yung, Christa Janse van Rensburg, Dimakatso Ramagole, Sandra Rozenstoka, Felix Drummond, Theodora Papadopoulou, Paulette Kumi, Richard Twycross-Lewis, Joanna Harper, Vasileios Skiadas, Jonathan Shurlock, Kumpei Tanisawa, Jane Seto, Kathryn North, Siddhartha Angadi, Maria Patino, Mats Borjesson, Luigi Di Luigi, Michiko Dohi, Jeroen Swart, James Bilzon, Victoriya Badtieva, Irina Zelenkova, Juergen Steinacker, Norbert Bachl, Fabio Pigozzi, Michael Geistlinger, Dimitrios Goulis, Fergus Guppy, Nick Webborn, Bulent Yildiz, Mike Miller, Patrick Singleton and Yannis Pitsiladis declare that they have no conflicts of interest relevant to the content of this review.
References
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- Archives TN. Equality Act 2010. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/195. Accessed 4 Mar 2020.
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- Harper J, Martinez-Patino M-J, Pigozzi F, Pitsiladis Y. Implications of a third gender for elite sports. Curr Sports Med Rep. 2018;17(2):42–44. - PubMed
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