Growing a penis at 12: the 'Guevedoce' boys of the Dominican Republic

a reply to: manuelram16

I obviously missed that!

Do you remember in the documentary if they focused on just one of these communities? Or if they talked about it in other places?

a reply to: Boadicea

I believe they talked about the high rate of cases in one community.

a reply to: manuelram16

It was probably one of or both of these communities then. I thought I read somewhere that it still happens elsewhere, but rarely, unlike these communities. I can't find it again though.

a reply to: Boadicea
I do remember it was in Latin America, the Nova episode I think it was is: Sex Unknown from 2001
will check tonight with my home collection.

a reply to: manuelram16

Thank you! I'll try to look for it online.

Latin America -- That may have been the Domican Republic.

originally posted by: queenofswords

they are deficient in an enzyme called 5-α-reductase, which normally converts testosterone into dihydro-testosterone.

I wonder what has caused this enzyme deficiency in this particular population causing this gender abnormality? Something "in the water"? A thorough investigation might lead to other answers and solutions to other gender issues.

If I had to guess, I'd probably say it's the result of genetic drift. The Dominican Republic, being an island nation, may have started out with a small population where a few individuals had this condition (founder effect). The allele frequencies for this may have changed over time, leading to it becoming more common.

Again, this is just a guess, but it seems the most likely answer to me.