Why DOMA is unconstitutional, beyond the traditional views of same sex relationships

摘要

The debate regarding the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is centered on issues of sexuality. Yet, surprisingly within the statute there are no definitions for "man" and "woman." These terms may seem self-evident; however, we would argue that it is not always clear. How would DOMA impact the marriages of two couples in which the gender of one of the spouses is in question? For example two couples present due to infertility: During the evaluations, the wife of couple number one is discovered to be genetically male. She has a 46, XY karyotpe and unde-scended testicles, consistent with the diagnosis of androgen insensitivity. The work-up of couple number two shows that the male partner has severe oligospermia and genetic analysis reveals he has genetic mosaicism (46, XY and 45, XO).