Last month, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) introduced a new policy requiring all players on the professional tour to undergo genetic sex testing. The one-time test must be negative for the SRY gene, the part of DNA typically found on the Y chromosome and plays a major role in initiating male sexual development.
Players must submit a cheek swab, saliva test, or a blood sample, and sign an agreement acknowledging that refusing the test could result in disciplinary action. The genetic sex test will also be required for players to compete in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
The WTA is the first major women’s sports organization to run genetic testing on all its players. This policy represents a significant change from their former policy, which was last updated in 2024, that allowed transgender women to play if their testosterone levels were below 2.5 nmol/L for two consecutive years.
There are currently no openly transgender women competing in the WTA Tour. In fact, the sport has only had one openly transgender player, Renee Richards, and she has not competed since 1981.
The WTA wanted to make it clear that there is “no intent to disrespect or question the gender identity or the dignity of any person,” and that their policy distinguishes between a person’s gender identity and their biological sex. However, this new policy adds to the ever-growing debate about transgender athletes competing in women’s sports.
In February 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning transgender women from participating in women and girls’ competitive sports. Following the president’s actions, the International Olympic Committee implemented SRY gene testing for the 2028 Olympics, which effectively bans transgender female athletes from competing in the women’s events.
The policy does not only affect transgender women but also cisgender women with high testosterone levels. Testosterone is naturally present in both males and females. What makes us different is how much testosterone we each have. For instance, women with PMOS tend to have higher levels of testosterone than women without the condition.
The policy therefore raises questions beyond transgender participation.What will happen to these women who are born female and identify as female? Would they have to compete with men?
The WTA has stated that players who test positive and have a sex development condition that causes them to have high levels of testosterone—like Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome—will be allowed to play if they prove they never experience “Male Mini-puberty or Male Adolescent Puberty.” Requiring athletes to undergo genetic testing in the first place places women’s bodies under a new level of scrutiny.
Regardless of what the WTA says, this new policy is a solution to a problem that does not exist. As debates over transgender participation in sports continue, the WTA’s new policy demonstrates how efforts to regulate women’s athletics increasingly involve determining who qualifies as a woman in the first place.