FileInfo XMPComboBox

Hello,
I am creating a FileInfo Panel, I noticed that when I create a XMPComboBox, if no one makes a selection the data isn't saved. Is there away to force the data to be written even if the field isnt changed? Example: I have a Gender combo box, Gender : Female is the first and default. If they want Female, they wouldnt change anything, so the data isnt being written.

I am guessing I could call the xmpWriteHandler, but I dont know syntax to have it store the value.

Some of the code:

[Bindable]

  private var model_gender_list: ArrayCollection = ZStringManager.getDictionaryFrom("model_gender_list=Female{Female};Male{Male}");

import com.adobe.xmp.events.XMPEvent;

private function xmpWriteHandler(event:XMPEvent):void{

}

<fi:XMPFormItem label="Model&apos;s Gender:">

  <fi:XMPComboBox dataProvider="{model_gender_list}" xmpWrite="xmpWriteHandler(event)" xmpPath="en:model_gender" />

</fi:XMPFormItem>

Thanks

Dean