title: Gender development in boys born with hypospadias.
abstract: Fetal testicular androgens in several mammalian species are responsible for the sexual differentiation of both the genitalia and the brain, the latter effect being related to behavioral sex-dimorphisms. Because prenatal endocrine abnormalities can be inferred from genital defects, studies of individuals born with anomalies potentially elucidate the contribution of androgens to the development of gender-related variation in human behavior. This study concerns the gender-role behavior of middle childhood boys (ages 6-10 years; n = 175) born with hypospadias, an androgen-related genital anomaly. Parents completed standardized gender behavior questionnaires in a postal survey. Hypospadias subjects did not show consistent differences from a community control group (n = 333) in feminine behavior, but significant, small, increases in masculine behavior were found. Severity of the hypospadias was unrelated to gender-role behavior. A number of surgery-related hospitalizations, however, were correlated with increased gender-atypical behavior. It is concluded that the hypoandrogenization associated with hypospadias does not interfere with the development of gender-typical masculine behavior.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, State University of New York at Buffalo, USA.
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Sandberg
authors.forename: H F
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Meyer-Bahlburg
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Yager
authors.forename: T W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Hensle
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Levitt
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Kogan
authors.forename: E F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Reda
mesh_terms: D000015:Abnormalities, Multiple / Q000523:psychology; D001519:Behavior; D002648:Child; D005783:Gender Identity; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007021:Hypospadias / Q000523:psychology* / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D012733:Sex Differentiation / Q000502:physiology