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The projector screen stretching across the back wall of the classroom was currently showing six groups of anatomical drawings of reproductive systems, each labeled with the gender and designation of that particular anatomical setup. It was a large classroom, one of those designed for those freshmen courses that easily had a hundred or more students, all of whom were diligently taking notes as the lecture continued on.
“Today we begin the reproduction unit of this course. To kick things off, I’m going to walk you through the basic anatomical differences between typical gender and designation presentations. Now remember, while this will cover the vast majority of people, a tiny minority of intersex and interdesignation individuals exist. The laws around those individuals can be complex and treatment plans for many conditions can vary wildly from regular methods, so it is highly recommended that you consult with a specialist if you have the occasion to be treating an intersex or interdesignation person during your career.”
The lecturer looked seriously around the room, tapping his fingers against the desk for emphasis.
“I am incredibly serious about that – intersex and interdesignation people are very rare, but have the potential to be the biggest professional liability you might face as a doctor. I know this is Anatomy and Physiology, not Medical Ethics, but it’s worth repeating here – a mis-identification on someone’s designation can ruin lives, and it’s highly possible that yours will be one of them when, not if, the mis-identification comes to light.”
He paused as the students scribbled that down, shuffling his lecture notes for a second.
“Now, that said, let’s get on to today’s lesson, and we’ll be starting with the most difficult identification first. As you can see, the external anatomy of an XX beta is visually and functionally identical to the external anatomy of an XX omega. Until recently it was completely impossible to determine the difference between XX beta and XX omega individuals until presentational maturity, and while modern science has progressed to the point where making an educated guess earlier than the final scent bloom of presentational maturity is possible, such diagnostic methods have a large enough margin of error that the majority of the medical community considers that using those techniques to provide information to the families of unpresented XX betas or omegas to be unethical. You’ll learn more about this topic in your Medical Ethics classes, as well as the societal implications in many of your freshman cultural credit electives – for this course, all you need to be concerned about are the differences that are noticeable after final scent bloom. Obviously, scent is one of the biggest tells, but scents can be deceptive – everyone knows at least one person who doesn’t fit the scent profile for their designation, and relying purely on scent is a good way to make an embarrassing at best, fatal at worst mistake.”
The lecturer paused for a sip of water, then waved his hand at the projector screen, which cleared away everything but the drawings for XX betas and omegas. He held a small pointer in his hand, shining it on the screen to point out specifics, and continued.
“While generally XX omegas have more durable and resilient reproductive anatomy than XX betas, this is a spectrum – a specific XX omega may have a rougher pregnancy than a specific XX beta, and this may change pregnancy to pregnancy, so while, in general, omegas have easier pregnancies, this must be taken on a case by case basis, much like using scent to diagnose. The only structures that can be used to definitively identify an XX omega from an XX beta are the cervix and clitoral roots.”
The lecturer waved his hand again and the diagrams changed, zooming into closeups of the vaginal canal and the structures surrounding it.
“As you can see, an XX omega will have large, distinctive, four-pronged clitoral root structures that not only extend along the top of the vaginal canal behind the clitoris but also wrap around and extend along the sides and/or bottom of the vaginal canal, depending on how steeply the side roots angle away from the two top roots. An XX beta will have only two root structures, which, in general, will be smaller than those of an XX omega, though, of note, the size can vary enough in both designations that it is the presence of the extra two structures that creates the positive identification of an XX omega, not solely the size. Using statistics from cadaver examination, it seems clear that the outer root structures do not develop until the individual in question is very close to final scent bloom, so even if it were ethical to do an examination before that point, it would be no more useful than any of the many unscientific prediction methods that exist and thus a fruitless endeavor. In regards to the cervix, the structures will visually look the same in both designations, but the nerves and elasticity differences are very distinctive. For an XX beta, heavy stimulation of the cervix will result in a bruised cervix and discomfort, and the cervix will only dilate during labor, in certain pregnancy-related medical situations, or with the application of hormones produced during those scenarios, and the process is usually painful and can cause severe damage. For an XX omega, heavy stimulation of the cervix produces an extremely pleasurable cervical orgasm, and with care it is possible to dilate the cervix via stimulation alone and, so long as the dilation is not maintained overly long, it will return to it’s regular closed, resting state without damage. If you are continuing on to the gynecological track, you will learn more about these mechanisms then, but for now, it’s enough to know the basics for designation identification.”
The lecturer changed the projection once more, and the diagrams on an XX alpha appeared next to the other two diagrams.
“Unlike XX betas or omegas, XX alphas are visually identifiable immediately. While they have all the internal structures of a beta or an omega, the location of their urethra and their clitoral structures are visibly different, and they have internal pseudo-testes that do not produce testosterone but do produce sperm. An XX alpha’s eggs and sperm are completely incompatible, old wives tales to the contrary – an XX alpha cannot self impregnate. XX alphas also have extremely low chances of both impregnating another XX alpha or being impregnated by an XY alpha, though it is possible, and modern fertility treatments have shown to be able to increase the likelihood of a viable fetus between two alphas. Most XX alphas never carry children and those who do, the majority of the time that child is fathered by an XY beta. We’ll go into that on Wednesday’s lecture, but every year people ask that question and I’ve given up leaving it out of the introductory lecture. Now, as for the structural differences,”
The lecturer paused at a raised hand. “Yes, you on the fifth row, did you have a question?”
The student spoke up, projecting her voice loudly enough to be easily heard. “What about XY omegas? Can an XX alpha get pregnant from one of them?”
The lecturer made a so-so gesture as he answered, “Yes, it has been proven definitively possible in recent years, but there is very little data on the subject because those pregnancies are very rare, and people admitting to them is even rarer – between the already low sperm counts of XY omegas, the difficulty XX alphas have conceiving in the first place, and the societal taboo of an omega fathering a child instead of birthing one, much less fathering a child on an alpha, there really isn’t much data about those pregnancies.”
The student nodded her thanks, and the lecturer continued the lesson.
“Now, as I was saying about structural differences, the clitoral structure of an XX alpha has some distinct differences from those of XX betas and omegas. In XX betas and omegas, the urethra is located between the clitoris and the vaginal canal, while in XX alphas, it is actually located in the middle of the clitoral structure, which, instead of split roots, has a single tubular structure much like in the penises of XY individuals. It contains similar tissue to an XY penis, in that it flushes with blood and becomes engorged when aroused, but unlike an XY alpha, an XX alpha has conscious control over the structure and can choose to allow it to extend out into a pseudo-penis or to remain tucked within the body, expanding backwards along the length of the vaginal canal. This allows the XX alpha far more flexibility in regards to pleasurable sexual positions, as they can either utilize the pseudo-penis to penetrate their partner or enjoy penetration of their vaginal canal. If penetrating, the XX alpha’s knot will expand in the same manner as an XY alpha’s knot, and if being penetrated, the knot will expand internally, tightening the vaginal canal, often to the extent of being painful for the penetrating partner.”
After a pause for the students to catch up their note taking, the lecturer moved on. “We will be going into further detail on each set of structure as the unit moves forward, so don’t worry about labeling your handouts yet – today is an overview designed to make sure everyone is on the same page. Now, let’s move on to the structures of XY individuals.”
Waving his hand again, three different groups of anatomical drawings appeared on the projection.
“As you can see, from a front-facing, flaccid view the baseline appearance of all XY designations does not appreciably differ. All three designations have a penis and testicles set in the same location, with the visible distinguishing marks – the alpha knot and the omega clitoris and vulva – hidden in this position. The internal reproductive structures of the penis, testicles, and prostate are also visually the same across the three designations, differing mainly in sperm count and quality – generally, XY omegas have very low sperm counts and XY alphas have sperm counts that are higher on average than either omegas or betas, as well as having a protein casing that is beneficial to the task of impregnating an omega and that tends to bond poorly with the eggs of an XX alpha, making it quite difficult for two alphas to conceive together. And no, flaccid penis size is absolutely not enough to tell the difference, especially on individuals who have not undergone any modifications. Many alphas are ‘growers’,” the lecturer said, using finger quotes around the slang term, “and have flaccid penises that inadequately represent their size when fully erect. As well, omegas who have been allowed to develop naturally will often have penises that are indistinguishable from that of a beta even when erect. This is why the development of growth-pausing drugs has been such a boon to society – before these drugs were widely available, the parents and guardians of XY omegas had to make the choice to either castrate their XY omega children early or to allow them to develop with all the effects of testosterone, with either direction significantly narrowing their prospects as an adult. Now it is common practice for XY omegas to have their testosterone production suppressed until adulthood, as it is trivial to take an omega off of testosterone blockers but a far more involved and significantly less flexible process to reverse the effects of testosterone.”
Another hand was raised, and the lecturer called on the student. “Are there any consequences of that suppression aside from how the omega looks?”
“No, though this is only applicable to alphas and omegas – you’ll be learning in later sections about how primitone and meginin affect bone growth and plasticity, so there are some different concerns with betas, but as far as omegas, it’s perfectly safe - though it does lead to those XY omegas who are taken off suppressants undergoing a second puberty, which can be a rather emotionally stressful time for all involved.”
The majority of the diagrams disappeared, leaving just the erect views of the alpha and beta configurations.
“Now, the defining features of an XY beta are simply an absence – there will be no knot and no clitoris, vulva, or any of the internal structures associated with the omega’s ability to conceive and carry a pregnancy. For an XY alpha, as you can see, the knot is visible when the penis is erect, even if it has not yet inflated – while the skin stretching over the remainder of the penis will be noticeably smoother on an erect penis as opposed to it’s flaccid state, there will be a portion close to but not quite at the base that remains wrinkled, usually creating a slight soft bulge around the erect shaft. This can be difficult to spot on some alphas – knot size can vary significantly, and while some alphas will knot every time they orgasm, others require scent or emotional compatibility before their knots will inflate. Thus, a lack of an inflated knot cannot be used to establish certainty of alpha or beta designation, and for those alphas with a smaller knot or with erectile disfunction the deflated knot can easily be missed. The definitive tests, if there is cause for doubt, are an examination of sperm protein casing or an MRI of the penis – if there is a malformation of the knot structure that is preventing it’s inflation, an MRI will reveal the tissues within and create a road map for possible surgical fixes.”
The projection changed again, the alpha diagrams disappearing and the omega diagrams taking their place.
“And, finally, we have the XY omega. Like the XX alpha, it is easy and clear-cut to identify an XY omega at birth, as they have a vulva and clitoris in the space that is the perineum for XY alphas and betas. This structure is identical to the genitals of an XX omega, with the exception of the urethra, which remains routed through the penis. The changed location of the urethra does mean that XY omegas can handle somewhat more forceful penetration without the risk of a urethral fistula, though there is, of course, still a risk of tissue damage and infection in those situations. If an omega, XX or XY, is allowed to experience a testosterone based puberty, the clitoris will grow, though size varies greatly by genetics, and it can end up remaining still relatively small or growing to a size that could be compared to the penises of an XY omega who was not allowed a testosterone based puberty - note, this does not just apply to XY omegas, testosterone affects clitoral structure no matter the designation.”
“Now,” the lecturer said, scanning the classroom, “this is, of course, just a basic overview. We will be breaking these down into anatomically labeled structures and discussing the effects of estrogen, testosterone, primitone, and meginin in more detail in the coming days, as well as diving into the internals of the reproductive system. Even if you don’t plan to specialize in a field where you’ll be working with multiple dynamics, it’s still important to have a solid understanding of the various facets of how designation is presented. Now, we’re going to take a fifteen minute break, and then dive back. Get some water, stretch, and be back here ready to continue taking notes.”
The projection flickered off and the lecturer turned his attention to his teaching notes as the hall buzzed with conversation, shuffling of papers and scraping of chairs, and all the other noises of a lecture hall full of college freshmen taking a moment between paying attention to their lessons once more.