What is a male pseudohermaphrodite?
What is a male pseudohermaphrodite?
Male pseudohermaphroditism is the condition of incomplete male differentiation of the external genitalia in an individual with a Y chromosome. The gonads of the male pseudohermaphrodite, when present, are either streak gonads or testes.
What does a pseudo male mean?
A pseudohermaphrodite is a person whose gonads are consistent with the chromosomal sex but who has external genitalia of the opposite sex. Male pseudohermaphrodites have normal testes but incomplete masculinization of the wolffian duct system and external genitalia.
How is intersex caused?
The person has the chromosomes of a woman, the ovaries of a woman, but external (outside) genitals that appear male. This most often is the result of a female fetus having been exposed to excess male hormones before birth.
How common is male pseudohermaphroditism?
Male pseudohermaphroditism is rare and almost always results from autosomal recessive genetic defects (defects that must be inherited from both parents in order to be expressed). Several specific defects lead to feminization in genetic males.
What are the causes of Pseudohermaphrodite?
External genitalia is musculinized congenitally when female fetus is exposed to excess androgenic environment. Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), mostly 21-hydroxylase deficiency, is the most common cause. Maternal androgen excess due to maternal ovarian tumor or drug intake also causes female pseudohermaphroditism.
Are hermaphrodite humans fertile?
There are extremely rare cases of fertility in “truly hermaphroditic” humans. In 1994 a study on 283 cases found 21 pregnancies from 10 true hermaphrodites, while one allegedly fathered a child.
How does Pseudohermaphroditism happen?
This disorder arises from an inherited defect in one of the enzymes needed for the production of cortisol, a hormone that plays a major role in the physiological response to stress. Excessive amounts of adrenal androgens must be produced to overcome the decrease in cortisol production.
What is a male hermaphrodite?
hermaphroditism, the condition of having both male and female reproductive organs. Affected individuals have sex chromosomes showing male-female mosaicism (where one individual possesses both the male XY and female XX chromosome pairs).
