Güevedoces: People Who Change Sex When Puberty Arrives?
The process of development of the fetus in the mother’s womb contains a whole network of chemical and organic reactions that enable the evolution of the baby. But this development, which works like a perfect machinery, is sometimes altered, causing all kinds of organic anomalies.
This is the case of güevedoces, a very curious phenomenon quite common in the Dominican Republic in which some girls, upon entering puberty, undergo a kind of natural sex change.
Güevedoces is an appellation given to a series of people from the Dominican Republic born with a chromosomal alteration imperceptible at the time of birth that causes the following phenomenon: babies born with the appearance of ambiguous genitalia, and who are usually assigned the female sex, who experience a process of masculinization upon puberty.
These people actually have male (XY) chromosomes. However, During fetal development they grow developing genital ambiguity At birth, they tend to be assigned as female and when puberty arrives, at approximately 12 years of age, there is growth of the penis and descent of the testicles.
Furthermore, if there is something that makes this phenomenon even more fascinating, it is that it occurs almost insignificantly throughout the world but, however, in the province of Barahona, in the Dominican Republic, appears in approximately 1 in 50 births in which the sex of the baby is determined to be female. Due to this huge number of cases, if the incidence of this condition in the world population is taken into account, children born with these characteristics are given the name güevedoces.
This genital alteration, considered a type of male pseudointersexuality, was described for the first time in the Dominican Republic, in the 70s of the last century by the North American doctor and endocrinologist Julianne Imperato-McGinley. As a result of studies and investigations of people with these characteristics, it was determined that the Guevedoces suffered from a deficiency of the enzyme 5-alpha reductase.
The deficiency of this enzyme causes a physical alteration known as hereditary male pseudointersexuality. Adequate levels of this enzyme result essential for testosterone to be converted into dihytestosterone if this does not occur due to a lack of 5-alpha reductase, masculinization of the external genitalia cannot occur during fetal development.
In the specific case of güevedoces, the increase in testosterone levels during puberty generates a response in the body, causing the growth of the penis and the decrease of the testicles.
How do they develop physically?
Usually, during the development of the first weeks of pregnancy andThe fetus does not have any specifications regarding sexual organs, only the development of the nipples occurs in both sexes. Then, at approximately eight weeks of gestation, the sex hormones intervene again.
Birth and childhood
If the baby is genetically determined to be male, the Y chromosome responsible for the gonads becoming testicles sending testosterone to the tubercle, where it is converted into the hormone dihytestosterone. Which, as we have already mentioned before, enables the masculinization of the sexual organs and converts the tubercle into the penis.
In the case of having chromosomes corresponding to the female sex, the synthesis of dihydrosterone does not occur and the tubercle then becomes a clitoris.
However, in people known as güevedoces, in whom this type of pseudointersexuality appears, the symptoms are limited to the appearance of the external genitalia, which appear phenotypically as female Sometimes before puberty, there is a small penis that can be perceived as a clitoris, a bifid scrotum, and an open urogenital sinus in the perineum.
The testicles are usually located hidden in the inguinal canal or in the labio-scrotal folds, while the internal structures derived from the Wolf’s duct (epididymis, vas deferens and seminal vesicles) develop without any type of anomaly.
Puberty
With the passage of time and the arrival of puberty, as happens with all young people, the person experiences a large exposure to endogenous testosterone That is, testosterone that our own body produces. This produces a masculinization of both the physical features of the person, as well as the genitals in the case of the Guevedoces.
This masculinization, in addition to the usual appearance of a deep voice, an increase in muscle mass, in people with hereditary male pseudointersexuality of this type also causes the growth of the penis and the decrease and increase in size of the testicles. Besides, no type of breast development is manifested similar to the feminine.
However, in most cases typically male facial hair is barely visible and the size of the prostate is significantly smaller compared to the average.
As a result of the case study, it has been determined that people from Guevado experience erections normally, being able to maintain sexual relations with complete penetration, but without the ability to inseminate due to the arrangement of the urethra.
After years of studying the Guevedoces, Dr. Imperato-McGinley discovered that in most cases people They say they identify with their male sex and with a heterosexual orientation despite having been raised as girls, and decide to retain the male genital changes.
However, on other occasions the person feels part of the female gender, so it is common for some of them to undergo a sex change operation that gives them female genitalia.
As a result of this, the doctor and her team concluded that when adopting a sexual and gender identity, the influence of hormones is stronger than the conditions of education
Regardless of one case or another, in most cases the appearance of male genitalia has an impact on the person, who may experience a series of crises in their identity, since this causes a change in the gender role of the person. person.
Finally, although this phenomenon is relatively common in this area of the Dominican Republic, the Guevedoces are usually rejected in society, being victims of a part of the population that does not accept them. This carries a risk of marginalization and social isolation.
