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JOYCE grew up thinking she was just like any other girl - but at the age of 14 doctors discovered she was actually an intersex person. After years of wondering why she was so tall, Joyce's mum, Karin, had taken her for tests when it was discovered that she had XY chromosomes - making her genetically male - and an ultrasound confirmed that Joyce had no female reproductive organs. Because her body was insensitive to testosterone, she had developed outwardly female characteristics - a condition known as androgen insensitivity syndrome. At the time, Joyce admits the news was "a shock" to her and her family, as they had "never heard of intersex before." She remembers how she "immediately started crying" and it took a long time to come to terms with the idea that she would never be able to have children that would be biologically hers. And as Joyce's friends explored dating and relationships, she avoided boys - finding it "really scary to tell them I was an intersex person." Now 21 years old, Joyce has accepted her identity and in recent years she decided to be much more open about her story on social media. When she met her current boyfriend, Angus, on a dating app a year ago, he was aware that Joyce was intersex. And whilst Angus' family were "cautious" about Joyce's inability to have biological children with him in the future, that did not deter him: "The most important thing is that you become a parent with someone who you truly love and share a special bond with - that's Joyce for me." And with so much loving support around her, Joyce hopes that by sharing her story, she will reach other young intersex people who find themselves at an earlier stage of their own acceptance journey: "Intersex has always been a really big taboo. There are a lot of intersex people who don't want to tell their story, so I hope my story reaches them and they can see... It's fine to just be who you are."

Follow Joyce:
https://www.instagram.com/joycekiela
https://www.tiktok.com/@joycekiela2808