Intersexuality - The Intersexual Spectrum

Causes of Intersexuality - Hormones

5-Alpha-Reductase Deficiency (5-ARD)

Children born with 5-ARD are genetic males with an XY- chromosome combination. However, they have undescended testicles, and their external sex organs may look ambiguous or clearly female: They may have a small penis (at first often mistaken for a large clitoris), and a vagina and vaginal lips, but no uterus and no Fallopian tubes. Those children with apparently female sex organs will usually be raised as girls, but, in many cases, their testicles descend during puberty, and they develop male secondary sexual characteristics. They then abandon the female role and adopt a male identity.
Without going into any greater biological or medical detail here, one can say this about the cause of the condition: A certain essential enzyme called 5-alpha reductase is deficient, and thus the typical development of the male fetus is impaired. Even in adult males, the prostate remains small, and there is the likelihood of infertility. Also, there is very little facial hair (on the other hand, there is no male-pattern baldness, either). The condition is inherited, but very rare. Some clusters of it are found only in the Dominican Republic and a few other countries, where, in relatively isolated communities, many people are related to each other.

5-ARD: From female to male during puberty Sometime between the ages of 10 and 16, the seamingly female body develops male sexual characteristics. Usually, at that time, a male identity is adopted.