A woman who was born and raised as a boy — living as a man until the age of 43 — discovered she is actually intersex and has both male and female chromosomes.
Juleigh Mayfield, 49, from Orlando, Florida, says her life has been shaped by a challenging journey with intersex conditions and health complications.
The actress and podcast host says she "presented" as a male at birth, adding: "Even though some of my characteristics were quite minute in size."
But it was only when she was playing football in high school and required a physical examination that a doctor told Juleigh — at the time, Bradford — she had characteristics of both genders.
"My parents and myself and my family were kind of at ends with what was going on," she explains.
Juleigh Mayfield, 49, from Orlando, Florida, says her life has been shaped by a challenging journey with intersex conditions and health complications.
The actress and podcast host says she "presented" as a male at birth, adding: "Even though some of my characteristics were quite minute in size."
But it was only when she was playing football in high school and required a physical examination that a doctor told Juleigh — at the time, Bradford — she had characteristics of both genders.
"My parents and myself and my family were kind of at ends with what was going on," she explains.
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00:00You, supposedly, now you can take a test that will tell you which parent you got
00:08your extra chromosome from. To me it doesn't matter. I don't care. It's an
00:17extra chromosome. I don't care who gave it to me. There's no, there's no shame
00:23in my game and there's no fault. I think that sometimes when individuals find
00:31out, they're trying to place blame and there's nothing wrong with being
00:36intersex and there's nothing wrong with having an extra chromosome. So, what does
00:43it matter? I don't know where I got the extra X from. I don't know.
00:50Wow. I shared with my parents at Thanksgiving that the NIH had released
00:56information that they now could run a test and tell you where you got it from
01:01and my dad said, who cares? He's like, I don't care who you got it from. My mom
01:07wanted to take the test but I think she wanted to take the test because on some
01:13level she wanted to know that she wasn't responsible or it wasn't her fault. But
01:18again, who cares? So, children are often are parts of both parents anyway. They
01:29get a little bit of characteristics from one and a little bit of characteristics
01:35from the other and that's not gonna change with an extra
01:39chromosome or a chromosomal variation. You're still gonna have part of your dad
01:44and part of your mom, part of your birth father, part of your birth mother. I love
01:52that your screen name is John 316 and for those of you that do not know what
01:58John 316 says, it says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only son and
02:05those that believe in him shall have everlasting life. Now, that's a
02:10paraphrased version but that is what it means. And as a fellow Christian, if you
02:17truly believe in him, you would also believe that he's created everything on
02:22heaven and earth and that he doesn't make mistakes because that's all part of
02:27the Bible too. My God doesn't make mistakes and yet he is created, intersects
02:36in every living and breathing species on the planet. And what intersects is, in
02:44case you don't know John 316, is that it is a variation of your chromosomal and
02:53genetic makeup. You just said check your chromosomes. I've checked my chromosomes.
02:58They're XXY. I have an extra female chromosome attached to my other
03:05chromosomes. And being intersex, that means that you have characteristics and
03:12variations that don't fit the binary.
03:20Also, yes, there are two types of skeletal systems. You're so bright. I'm glad you
03:27paid attention in school. There's the male skeletal system and the female
03:34skeletal system. Do you know that there's some intersex individuals that
03:39may have the upper skeletal system of a male and the lower skeletal system of a
03:46female? I'm thinking you didn't know that. Here's what I'm gonna do for you. It's
03:55not my purpose as a Christian to judge you or your walk. However, we are supposed
04:03to be suspect of fake prophets. So tonight when I go to bed and I say my
04:09prayers, I'm gonna pray for you. I'm gonna pray that you're open to receive love
04:16and joy and education.