Girls Turn Into Boys: The Story of A Caribbean Village

#1

In the Dominican Republic, a small village known as Salinas has young girls who morph into a boy with a penis. This genetic condition known as "guevedoces" entails the growth of a penis at the age of 12. In medical terms these kids will be referred as, "pseudohermaphrodite".

Being a pseudohermaphrodite is so common in Salinas that the people have begun to accept this as a third sex.

#2

This is Johnny who is 24 years of age. He is physically and biologically a male but was once known as Felicitia.

He was brought up as a girl but grew a penis when he was about the age of 12. He would wear a skirt before he hit puberty and wouldn't like it. His parents bought him girl toys but he would never play with them and instead would play with the male kids. It was only when his voice broke and a pair of testicles and a penis began to grow that his true sex was realized.

#3

According to Dr. Mihael Mosley, "Guevedoces" are at times called, "machimembras" which means "first a woman, then a man."

When they are born they look like girls with no testes. They assume the child is a girl by looking at what appears to be a vagina. Once they hit puberty the genitals develop and descend.

The rare genetic disorder is caused by the missing enzyme which stops the production of the male sex hormone called "dihydro-testorone". This hormone is responsible for the growth and development of the male sexual organs in the mother's womb. At puberty since testosterone begins to flow the male sexual organs appear and they are identified as being a male.