EXTRAORDINARY CASE OF BOYS WHO DO NOT GROW A PENIS UNTIL PUBERTY

JOHNNY

A small Dominican Republic village is home to some males who are born with 'no testes and what appears to be a vagina', however a transformation ocurs when they attain puberty and they begin to grow penises. This pubertic transformation has been termed 'guevedoces' which means 'penis at 12'. One of the first people to study this unusual condition was Cornell University professor Dr Julianne Imperato in the 1970s. 'Since then, scientific analysis has shown that the male children are born without male genitalia because they have a reductase enzyme deficiency – the enzyme which converts testosterone into dihydro-testosterone in the womb'. As a result, they do not grow male genitalia until puberty when there is an increased testosterone in their body system.

A new BBC documentary called 'countdown to life' follows some people living with this condition. Johnny , a 24 year old man once known as Felicita recounted his stories of being brought up as a girl to the broadcaster.

''I was born at home instead of in a hospital. They didn't know what sex I was. I went to school and I used to wear my skirt. I never liked to dress as a girl. When they bought me girls' toys I never bothered playing with them. All I wanted to do was play with the boys."

Sadly when Johnny's transformation began at puberty, he was taunted in school and called names but bravely he fought back defending himself at all times. Johny also declared intentions to get married and have children with a partner who will stick with him through the thick and thin.

Parts of Dr. Imperato's research on this unusal condition were picked up by America's pharmaceutical giant, Merck. This led to the development of the best selling drug finasteride which helps to treat benign enlargment of the prostate and male patter baldness.

Click here to view episodes of countdown to life