Lal: “If a sperm cell with the X chromosome wins the race, the resulting chromosome pair would be XX which would lead to female body.”
- Yes. In that specific case, only a female gandhabba will be pulled into the womb by kammic energy.
- In the other case, only a male gandhabba will be pulled into the womb by kammic energy.
Interestingly, there are exceptions to this rule like Swyer Syndrome, where the individual has XY pair but develops female sexual characteristics and usually lives like a woman, and De La Chapelle Syndrome, where the individual has XX pair but develops male characteristics and typically lives like a man. I feel like this excerpt from the post Sexual Orientation – Effects of Kamma and Gati (Saṅkhāra) explains the above (even though they are not necessarily transgenders):
11. Another possibility that may come into play in a transgender person (a person whose sex is changed during their lifetime) can be understood if one understands the role of the gandhabba (mental body) that dictates the functioning of the physical body. Gandhabba is not a Mahāyāna concept: “Gandhabba State – Evidence from Tipiṭaka. “
- When a gandhabba goes into a womb, it is not firmly attached to the zygote (the cell formed by the union of the father and the mother) during the first several weeks.
- Sometimes, the gandhabba leaves the womb if it turns out to be not a good match with the parents. This is the reason for a miscarriage.
- If a gandhabba leaves the womb within such a short period, in some cases, another gandhabba can enter the womb and take possession of the partially formed physical body abandoned by the previous gandhabba. Now, the second gandhabba may be of the opposite sex.
Every major medical organization in the United States now acknowledges that (biological) sex and gender are two different things. It is fascinating to know that the scientific research of transgender now suggests that the neuroanatomy of trans women’s brains are more similar to that of cis women than that of cis men, which supports the next bullet point in the same part of the post:
- For example, suppose the first gandhabba was a male and the second a female. So, this female is thus taking hold of a physical body that was taking shape to be a male and thus continues to form a male body. Once born as a male baby and while growing, the female character may start to convert the physical body to that of a female. This is what happens to a transgender person.
Gender Identity is neuroanatomical and essentially the result of the sex of gandhabba. Correct me if I’m wrong but this looks like another evidence that Dhamma is ahead of our mundane understandings of the world.