So I was born with an extra chromosome.
I went to the doctor and I was feeling tired and I was wondering: What's going on? Why do I feel like
this? Maybe you re depressed, maybe you re overworked. Of course, I knew I was different
but did I know it was that? Definitely not.
Hey, my name's Seamus. I'm 34 and I have 47,XXY.
So 47,XXY basically means I've got an extra chromosome and my body doesn't produce sperm
and I have low testosterone. Most men with 47,XXY have all these difficulties,
learning difficulties, being tired, infertile. The biggest misconception is that that extra X
chromosome relates to being feminine. And that's incorrect. Most people don't get diagnosed until
they're late 20's or early 30's, when they' re trying to have a kid, for example.
So I knew I had physical differences when I was 23 when I was sexually active and meeting other
people. And I knew I looked different. Guys would say something you know. Oh why are your
testes smaller? Or why are you sensitive there? One of the symptoms for people, and this
is what doctors find out eventually when they do an examination, is that we have smaller testicles,
kind of like a grape size. That's why, for example, a lot of us can't have kids. One of the
big problems is erectile dysfunction. Sometimes I'd just be like, I don't feel like it and
people would be like what? I'd feel less of a man if I couldn't for example get it up and it
happened for like three years. It was up and down, up and down. I felt ashamed, embarrassed.
My energy levels would be down. I d feel fatigued. I'd want to go to sleep. And no matter what
I ate, there was still something else that I needed. February 2018, I was 31. Went and saw my
endocrinologist, was in there for 10 minutes, saw the results and said to me yep, you ve got 47,XXY
Klinefelter syndrome. That was a big turning point obviously. It was a big I felt at that time
like someone had died. It was really hard time because it was like, now I can't have children.
Maybe I ve got osteoporosis. When you say syndrome or you were diagnosed , those words
are very strong and you feel like, what there's something wrong with me? That was very hard.
Thank God to my mum, she was trying to get me out of that hole that I was in.
She comes from a medical background and so she said, look you can go on testosterone, there's a
chance you can have kids. I rang around and then I found someone who specialised in 47,XXY. She
was a life saver for me. It opened my eyes. She said to me, your brain is starving and it needs
testosterone and she spoke about all the symptoms that I had like the learning difficulties.
She answered those questions for me and that was huge. I was like, I just felt like I was dancing
on the moon at that point. I remember coming home and crying with my Mum. Oh my God!
It s treated with testosterone injections which I currently have every 12 weeks. I really feel my
life has changed. I'm more focused. I'm studying really hard. I'm training six times a week and
coming home feeling amazing. And it's taken me three years to get to this part of my life.
I fully accept it now. I actually embrace it. I think I ve got something special and it s going
to lead me throughout life to help others and that's so important for me. Guys, get your
crown jewels looked at because honestly it could change your life. It definitely changed mine.