Güevedoce

In theDominican Republic,güevedoces(fromSpanish:güevedoce,fromDominican Spanishgüevos a los doce"testiclesat twelve ") are children with a specificintersexvariation. Güevedoces are classified as girls when they are born but, around the age of 12, they start developingmale genitalia.This is due to adeficiency in the production of 5α-reductase,anenzymeinvolved in themetabolismoftestosteronetodihydrotestosterone.The phenomenon also reportedly occurs inTurkeyand inPapua New Guinea,where it is calledkwolu-aatmwol(literally 'a female thing changing into a male thing') by theSambia people.

Early research

The firstscientific investigationsof güevedoces occurred in the 1970s, when Julianne Imperato-McGinley, anendocrinologistfromCornell University,traveled to the village ofLas Salinasin the Dominican Republic to investigate reports of apparentlyfemalechildren becomingmalechildren at the onset ofpuberty.The cause was determined to be5α-Reductase deficiency,and the results were published in the journalSciencein 1974. The frequency of the deficiency was found to be unusually high in Las Salinas, with occurrence ratio of 1 güevedoce to every 90 unaffected males.

The transformation of aphenotypicallyfemale child into a phenotypically male adult at puberty, which is reported to be celebrated in Dominican culture, is the result of agenotypicmale (withXY chromosomes) born with a deficiency in theenzyme5α-reductase.5α-Reductase is responsible for the reduction of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone. Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is thehormoneresponsible for the majority ofembryonic developmentof primary malesexual characteristicssuch asgenitalsize. However, theoxidizedform of the hormone, testosterone, promotessecondary sex characteristics.Thus, an XY child without functioning 5α-reductase cannot convert testosterone into the form that developsprimary sex characteristicsand will have the appearance offemale genitalia.At puberty, when large amounts of testosterone are produced, secondary sex characteristics (e.g.,deepening voice,hair pattern changes, muscleanabolism,etc.) develop, thus producing a phenotypic male.

Status in society

In countries like theUnited States,intersex children are often operated on immediately after birth to make their genitals appear either typically male or female. In adulthood, güevedoces most commonlyself-identifyas men, but are not necessarily completely treated as such by society.

Anne Fausto-Sterlingstates that güevedoces (as well as people in Papua New Guinea with 5α-reductase deficiency) "are recognised as athird gender"by their cultures, while the cultures" nevertheless recognize only two gender roles ".

See also

• Gender system
• 5α-Reductase deficiency