A new working paper led by CQDS member Morten Kjær Thomsen (Department of Sociology and LCDS, University of Oxford) examines mortality patterns in the intersex population - the first study of its kind.
The study provides the first population-level analysis of mortality patterns among intersex individuals - those whose sex characteristics do not align with typical notions of male and female bodies - shedding light on a population that has historically been invisible in demographic research. Using Danish administrative data covering nearly three decades, the study identifies more than 1% of the population as having intersex traits.
The results reveal distinctive life-course patterns: From mid adulthood, intersex males show lower mortality rates than sex-typical males. In contrast, intersex females face higher mortality risks later in life compared to sex-typical females. As such, mortality patterns among intersex populations fall - like their sex characteristics - between those typically observed for males and females.
Dr Thomsen, lead author of the study, commented: "The quantitative social sciences have had remarkably little to say about intersex people, primarily because we lacked the tools and data to study this relatively large population at scale. For the first time, we can describe how intersex individuals live and die across the life course, and the patterns we find challenge established patterns of male and female mortality. This is one of many studies to come in which we explore diversity in sex characteristics and the lives of this overlooked population. I hope this opens the door to a richer conversation about sex diversity, health, and inequality in quantitative social science research."
The study is coauthored by Andrea Tilstra (LCDS, Oxford) and Jane Greve (VIVE, Denmark) and builds on a novel strategy for identifying intersex individuals in administrative data, developed by Dr Thomsen and Dr Greve in a previous paper (pre-print (https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/wg4dt_v2). By applying this approach in the context of mortality for the first time, the authors demonstrate its potential to open up entirely new lines of inquiry into the health and lives of intersex populations. The working paper was released during LGBT+ History Month, underscoring the broader significance of the findings for understanding inequalities and promoting inclusive research practices.
The preprint is available online.
