Yes, ‘sex assigned’ in the phrase ‘sex assigned at birth’ is ‘misleading.’ But the other two words — ‘at birth’ — are equally dubious.
Earlier this week, the New York Times published “The Problem With Saying ‘Sex Assigned at Birth’” by Alex Byrne and Carole K. Hooven. Plenty of people sent me the link to this article, likely because I’m writing my linguistics dissertation on the semantics of so-called inclusive language.
Byrne and Hooven write that the phrase “sex assigned at birth” sows confusion and “creates doubt about a biological fact.” They argue “assigned” implies “arbitrariness” and “suggests that the person’s sex is at best a matter of educated guesswork.” The authors succinctly explain that “sex is not in any sense the result of linguistic ceremonies in the delivery room or other cultural practices” and that “a baby abandoned at birth may not have been assigned male or female by anyone, yet the baby still has a sex.”
Indeed, sex is independent of speech because genetics is independent of speech. The New York Times article explores what linguists call “performative” utterances, which effect change when expressed; a performative verb names the action being completed. By saying “I promise to . . .” I effectively promise something. But by saying “it’s a boy” or “it’s a girl,” I haven’t effectuated a child’s sex; I’ve only described it. There is no word, phrase, or sentence that can alter a person’s sex — despite what progressives claim.
I largely agree with Byrne and Hooven’s analysis, although I think it neglects something important. The authors focus on why “sex assigned” in the phrase “sex assigned at birth” is “misleading.” But the other two words — “at birth” — are equally dubious. Sex preexists birth — regardless of whether sex is assigned, discovered, observed, detected, recorded, or anything else. Sex is not relative to someone’s supposedly authoritative decree, and it isn’t contingent on birth, either. In the tragic instances that a baby is not carried to term, the child still was either male or female.
Progressives know that sex is determined at conception, despite all their rhetoric in support of abortion that treats a baby in utero as merely “a clump of cells.” Fertility clinics advertise “family balancing” practices that allow parents to implant an embryo of their preferred sex. In 2022, a gay male couple sued a fertility clinic and specialist for implanting a female embryo in a surrogate when the couple wanted a son. That same year, a lesbian couple who wanted a girl sued a fertility clinic for implanting a male embryo. An ultrasound can show a baby’s sex with roughly 70 percent accuracy at eleven weeks and 100 percent accuracy at 13 weeks. Some parents host baby showers or “gender reveal” parties months before the due date and disclose the child’s sex; guests might accordingly choose to buy blue or pink gifts. In some countries, like China under its devastating former one-child policy, a baby may be aborted because it is female.
Ultimately, both “sex assigned at birth” and “sex at birth” distort the nature of genetics. We should refute the claim that sex can be “assigned.” We should, however, similarly reinforce the fact that sex does not materialize at birth.