Are intersex, VSC and DSD synonymous with one another?

Intersex is an umbrella term that includes all innate (i.e., since birth) variations of sex characteristics, characteristics that differ from the typical notions of what are considered feminine or masculine bodies. These variations can affect sex chromosomes, sex hormones, external genitalia, or internal components of the reproductive system.

Medically, the expression “Disorders of Sex Development” (DSDs) was coined in the 2005 International Consensus Conference on the management of intersex conditions, to indicate “congenital conditions in which the development of the chromosomal, gonadal or anatomical sex is atypical”. This expression has been strongly criticized by intersex movements and by part of the scientific community because it implies that the intersex condition ought to be “reordered” through medical intervention. The expression of disorders was replaced with “Differences of Sex Development” and more recently with that of “Variations of Sex Characteristics” (VSCs). The expression VSC is increasingly used in social sciences, intersex movements and international institutions. Not so much in the scientific literature dealing with the biomedical and legal fields, where the expression disorders/differences in sex development prevails