Why Some Boys in the Dominican Republic Grow Penises at Puberty

Countdown to Life: The Extraordinary Making of You, a new BBC series focused on how our prenatal development shapes our lives, has brought new attention to a group of seemingly sex-swapping people in the Dominican Republic.

In an article for the BBC Magazine, Michael Mosely talks to families with children that were brought up as girls because they lacked obvious testes or a penis at birth, but grew penises and had their testicles descend when they neared puberty. The local name for these children is “guevedoces”, or “penis at twelve.” But the change they go through isn’t magic–it’s an example of how multi-layered and complex human sexual development really is.

Here’s how it works.

The condition is the result of an enzyme deficiency. Guevedoces are genetically male, and have Y chromosomes in all of their cells. Their earliest sexual development is also normal: a gene on the Y chromosome turns the undeveloped gonads of the 7 week old embryo into testes, which soon start pumping out male hormones. Two of those hormones–testosterone and Mullerian-inhibiting substance–are critical for the development of the internal male reproductive system.

Testosterone triggers the development of the male reproductive tubing: the epididymis and vas deferens. Mullerian-inhibiting substance breaks down tissues that would otherwise develop into female tissues like Fallopian tubes and the uterus. The result is a set of tubes that will carry semen from the testes to point where the urethra emerges from the bladder.

At week 10 of prenatal development, a guevedoces looks like any other male fetus. But his enzyme deficiency is about to make things confusing for his parents. Normally, an enzyme called 5-alpha-reductase-2 would convert testosterone into a hormone called dihydrotestosterone (or DHT). Where internal reproductive tissues were sensitive to testosterone alone, the tissues that form the external genitalia are instead sensitive to DHT.

In utero, guevedoces are making plenty of testosterone. But their bodies can’t turn it into DHT, and without DHT the genitals develop along female lines–as a clitoris and labia–instead of a penis and scrotum. DHT also sends the signal that tells testes to descend into the scrotum: without it, they stay tucked inside the abdomen.

When guevedoces are born, their external genitalia look more female even though their internal reproductive structures are male. They’re raised as girls. But at puberty, the testes inside their abdomens start producing large amounts of testosterone. The effect is startling.

During puberty, testosterone makes the penis and testes grow into their larger adult form. The same thing happens to the guevedoces: but since their penis starts closer to the size of a clitoris, there’s a lot more growing to do. They also develop other male characteristics such as facial hair, a deeper voice, and male musculature. And in most cases, they adapt to their newly male bodies.

Man's brain VS Women's brain

1. MULTITASKING:
Women - Multiple process
Women's brains designed to concentrate multiple task at a time.
Women can Watch a TV and Talk over phone and cook.
Men - Single Process
Men's brains designed to concentrate only one work at a time. Men can not watch TV and talk over the phone at the same time. they stop the TV while Talking. They can either watch TV or talk over the phone or cook.

2. LANGUAGE:
Women can easily learn many languages. But can not find solutions to problems. Men can not easily learn languages, they can easily solve problems. That's why in average a 3 years old girl has three times higher vocabulary than a 3 year old boy.

3. ANALYTICAL SKILLS:
Men's brains has a lot of space for handling the analytical process. They can analyze and find the solution for a process and design a map of a building easily. But If a complex map is viewed by women, they can not understand it. Women can not understand the details of a map easily, For them it is just a dump of lines on a paper.

4. CAR DRIVING.
While driving a car, mans analytical spaces are used in his brain. He can drive a car fast as possible. If he sees an object at long distance, immediately his brain classifies the object (bus or van or car) direction and speed of the object and he drives accordingly. Where woman take a long time to recognize the object direction/ speed. Mans single process mind stops the audio in the car (if any), then concentrates only on driving.

5. LYING
When men lie to women face to face, they get caught easily. Woman's super natural brain observes facial expression 70%, body language 20% and words coming from the mouth 10%. Men's brain does not have this. Women easily lie to men face to face.
So guys, do not lie face to face.

6. PROBLEMS SOLVING
If a man have a lot of problems, his brain clearly classifies the problems and puts them in individual rooms in the brain and then finds the solution one by one. You can see many guys looking at the sky for a long time. If a woman has a lot of problems, her brain can not classify the problems. she wants some one to hear that. After telling everything to a person she goes happily to bed. She does not worry about the problems being solved or not.

7. WHAT THEY WANT
Men want status, success, solutions, big process, etc... But Women want relationship, friends, family, etc...

8. UNHAPPINESS
If women are unhappy with their relations, they can not concentrate on their work. If men are unhappy with their work, they can not concentrate on the relations.

9. SPEECH
Women use indirect language in speech. But Men use direct language.

10. HANDLING EMOTION
Women talk a lot without thinking. Men act a lot without thinking

Religion-the origin, evolution and its consequences

When compared to other species of animals that live on this planet we human beings are the ugliest of them all. We neither have beautifully decorated skin nor skillful and powerful bodies. But evolution and nature always compensate and balance came in the form of a large brain carrying intellect with it, more than any other animal. So what did we do with it? Of the many other things we managed to conceive, religion by far has been the most powerful , most confusing and most adulterated invention though It could have been pure at the time of its inception. Maybe.

Yes it is a scientific invention. At the time when we humans found out that we could socialize we began setting up civilizations, creating hierarchies, classifying people and forming a rigid social structure. There was a something that was needed to keep it intact. Something that would control the violent animalistic instincts that we naturally possessed. A pure thought devoid of these instincts that the mind could focus on so that it could obtain peace within itself. It could have been about the sanctity of nature. The peace and quiet of a deep valley between two mountains adorned with a green carpet of plants and trees with a stream of fresh water flowing right in the middle. Or simply a beautiful flower with beauty being the appreciation which our brain had the ability of performing. That was where belief and faith lay. In the beauty of things. Appreciating your surroundings and fellow human beings would have and should been the only religion.

Later on, going with the trend, Communities branched out moving over to different parts of the world and set up their own life styles designed by their mind set tuned probably by their traveling experience. But in every society the intention was the same. Find a thought to focus and believe in and regulate ourselves to find peace and equilibrium. It worked, obviously creating a sense of unity in the societies and gave people a sense of purpose to lead their lives. It was just like friendship or a loving relationship. Faith and trust were the cruxes. Only here it was a mental thought. Because thoughts could transform themselves into anything. The level of purity could be upgraded infinitely in them. And this mental friend stayed with each and every person guiding them and helping them fuelled by their own consciousness. It was a self-sustaining system and only needed regular remembrance.

It was a successful system maybe as long as every person had their own object of faith, their own god. It was the basic and most defining nuance of freedom. But cramped between thousands of years there would have come a time when a person would have thought about comparisons. They would have thought about challenging other’s gods. And then it would have started. People with a weaker mental will would have supported one form which they were made to consider superior than their own faiths. And then societies, communities and entire civilizations would have disbanded and would have formed new groups with each of them having a single faith. Thus the system of having the freedom to choose one’s own faith would have ended.

Still the fundamental notion was the same. But this way power came to the hands of a person, whose faith the whole group followed. Maybe the human mind was not built to hold power without succumbing to corrupt practices. Those practices which did not lie with the interests of the mass.

It was that time when faith became a real world power controlled by humans rather than staying in the mental realm where the slow poison started and religion is what it is now.

And what is religion now? it is all about control , superiority, restrictions, superstitions, division and blind and forced faith and has lead to the one main trait that it was built to suppress- Anger and violence.