A sex-determination system is a biological system that determines the development of sexual characteristics in an organism. Most organisms that create their offspring using sexual reproduction have two common sexes and a few less common intersex variations. A child's biological sex (male or female) is determined by the chromosome that the male parent contributes. Males have XY sex chromosomes while females have XX sex chromosomes; the male can contribute the X or Y chromosome, while the female must contribute one of their X chromosomes.
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