Countdown to Life: The Extraordinary Making of You, a new BBC series focused on how our prenatal development shapes our lives, has brought new attention to a group of seemingly sex-swapping people in the Dominican Republic.
In an article for the BBC Magazine, Michael Mosely talks to families with children that were brought up as girls because they lacked obvious testes or a penis at birth, but grew penises and had their testicles descend when they neared puberty. The local name for these children is “guevedoces”, or “penis at twelve.” But the change they go through isn’t magic–it’s an example of how multi-layered and complex human sexual development really is.
Quote:
When guevedoces are born, their external genitalia look more female even though their internal reproductive structures are male. They’re raised as girls. But at puberty, the testes inside their abdomens start producing large amounts of testosterone. The effect is startling.
During puberty, testosterone makes the penis and testes grow into their larger adult form. The same thing happens to the guevedoces: but since their penis starts closer to the size of a ****oris, there’s a lot more growing to do. They also develop other male characteristics such as facial hair, a deeper voice, and male musculature. And in most cases, they adapt to their newly male bodies.
This also reminds me that I read at birth, there are certain measurements used to distinguish a penis from a vagina. However, there's a grey area in between both and if you fall there you're intersex? I don't remember exactly.
