PEDIATRICS Vol. 102 No. 1 July 1998, p. e9
ELECTRONIC ARTICLE:
Experiment of Nurture: Ablatio Penis at 2 Months, Sex
Reassignment at 7 Months, and a Psychosexual Follow-up in Young
Adulthood
,
From the * Department of Psychiatry and
Division of
Gynaecology, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada;
§ Private Practice, London, Ontario, Canada; and the
Child and
Adolescent Gender Identity Clinic, Child and Family Studies Centre,
Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
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ABSTRACT |
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Guidelines of psychosexual management for infants born with physical intersex conditions are intended to assist physicians and parents in making decisions about sex of assignment and rearing including the following: 1) sex assignment should be to the gender that carries the best prognosis for good reproductive function, good sexual function, normal-looking external genitalia and physical appearance, and a stable gender identity; 2) the decision regarding sex assignment should be made as early as possible, preferably during the newborn period, with an upper age limit for reversal of an initial sex assignment no later than 18 to 24 months; and 3) there should be minimal uncertainty and ambiguity on the part of parents and professionals regarding the final decision about sex assignment and rearing.
J. Money used these guidelines in a case of a biologically normal male infant (one of a pair of monozygotic twins) whose penis was accidentally ablated during a circumcision at the age of 7 months. The decision to reassign the infant boy to the female sex and to rear him as a girl was made at 17 months, with surgical castration and initial genital reconstruction occurring at 21 months.
Money reported follow-up data on this child through the age of 9 years. Although the girl was described as having many "tomboyish" behavioral traits, a female gender identity had apparently differentiated. Thus, it was concluded that gender identity is sufficiently incompletely differentiated at birth as to permit successful assignment of a genetic male as a girl, in keeping with the experiences of rearing.
Subsequent follow-up by other investigators reported that by early adolescence the patient had rejected the female identity and began to live as a male at the age of 14 years. In adulthood, the patient recalled that he had never felt comfortable as a girl, and his mother reported similar recollections. At age 25, the patient married a woman and adopted her children. The patient reported exclusive sexual attraction to females.
The present case report is a long-term psychosexual follow-up on a second case of ablatio penis in a 46 XY male. During an electrocautery circumcision at the age of 2 months, the patient sustained a burn of the skin of the entire penile shaft, and the penis eventually sloughed off. At age 7 months, the remainder of the penis and the testes were removed. By age 7 months, if not earlier, the decision was made to reassign the patient as a female and to raise the infant as a girl.
The patient was interviewed on two occasions: at 16 years and twice while in the hospital for additional surgery at 26 years of age. At ages 16 and 26, the patient was living socially as a woman and denied any uncertainty about being a female. During childhood, the patient recalled that she self-identified as a "tomboy" and enjoyed stereotypically masculine toys and games; however, the patient also recalled that her favorite playmates were usually girls and that her best friend was always a girl.
When seen at age 16, the patient had been admitted to the hospital for vaginoplasty. At that time, she wished to proceed with the further repair of her genitalia to make them suitable for sexual intercourse with males. At age 26, the patient returned to the hospital for further vaginoplasty.
Regarding the patient's sexual orientation, she was attracted predominantly to women in fantasy, but had had sexual experiences with both women and men. At the time of the second surgery, she was in a relationship with a man and wished to be able to have intercourse. The patient's self-described sexual identity was "bisexual." After surgery at age 26 years, the patient developed a rectovaginal fistula. Within a few months of the surgery, the patient and her male partner separated for reasons other than the patient's physical problems. The patient subsequently began living with a new partner, a woman, in a lesbian relationship.
The psychosexual development of our patient was both similar to and different from the patient described earlier. Our patient differentiated a female gender identity; in contrast, the other patient had adopted a male gender identity after experiencing intense discomfort living as a female, apparently around the beginning of adolescence. At the time of interview at age 26, our patient was living with a man, but they subsequently separated and she began a new relationship with a woman; the other patient was married to a woman. Our patient had a "bisexual" sexual identity; the other patient had a "heterosexual" sexual identity. The patients were similar in that they had a childhood history of "tomboyism." Our patient was predominantly sexually attracted to women; the other patient was exclusively sexually attracted to women. Our patient had sexual experiences with both women and men; the other patient had sexual experiences only with women.
The most plausible explanation of our patient's differentiation of a female gender identity is that sex of rearing as a female, beginning at around age 7 months, overrode any putative influences of a normal prenatal masculine sexual biology.
Because cases of ablatio penis in infancy are so rare and long-term follow-up data are scant, it is obviously impossible to know whether our patient or the previous case would be more typical of the psychosexual outcome in a larger sample of such individuals. However, our case suggests that it is possible for a female gender identity to differentiate in a biologically "normal" genetic male. At present, however, the clinical literature is deeply divided on the best way to manage cases of traumatic loss of the penis during infancy. Further study is clearly required to decide on the optimal model of psychosocial and psychosexual management for affected individuals.
Key words: ablatio penis, sex reassignment, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical intersex conditions.
In the 1950s, Money and colleagues1,2
developed guidelines of psychosexual management for infants born with
physical intersex conditions. They were intended to assist physicians, other health professionals, and parents in making decisions about sex
assignment and rearing. These guidelines included the following: 1) sex
assignment should be to the gender that carries the best prognosis for
good reproductive function (if attainable at all), good sexual
function, normal-looking external genitalia and physical appearance,
and a stable gender identity (sense of self as a boy or a girl), all of
which would putatively foster a healthy psychosocial adaptation3,4; 2) the decision regarding sex assignment
should be made as early as possible, preferably during the newborn
period, with an upper age limit for reversal of an initial sex
assignment no later than 18 to 24 months5; 3) there should
be minimal uncertainty and ambiguity on the part of parents and
professionals regarding the final decision about sex assignment and
subsequent sex of rearing.5,6 As noted by
Meyer-Bahlburg,4 these guidelines have informed the
standard medical and psychosocial care of infants born with physical
intersex conditions for several decades in the United States and other
countries.
Follow-up studies of infants with physical intersex conditions showed
that sex of rearing, in comparison with the various parameters that
constitute biologic sex, was the best predictor of subsequent gender
identity formation. For example, most genetic females with congenital
adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) reared as girls developed a female gender
identity,7,8 even though they had been exposed
prenatally to increased levels of androgens9,10 (although
subsequently controlled postnatally by glucocorticoid replacement
therapy)11 and were born with masculinized genitalia (although surgically feminized postnatally, usually in the first few
years of life).12 Parents reported that they were able to rear their children as girls with little reservation or
ambivalence.7
There have, however, also been cases of gender change from female to
male later in life in CAH genetic females, which have been associated
with delayed decisions about sex assignment, chronic ambiguity about
sex of rearing, inconsistent adherence to glucocorticoid replacement
therapy, and lack of surgical feminization of the external
genitalia.13 These findings underscore the importance of
both psychosocial and medical factors in the clinical care of infants
born with physical intersex conditions.
Money14,15 applied the guidelines of psychosexual
management for intersex children to a case of a biologically normal
male infant (one of a pair of monozygotic twins) whose penis was
accidentally ablated (flush with the abdominal wall) during a
circumcision by electrocautery at 7 months of age. It then necrosed and
sloughed off. The decision to reassign the infant boy to the female sex and to rear him as a girl was made when he was 17 months of age, with
surgical castration and initial genital reconstruction performed at 21 months of age, which fall at the upper bound of the age range
recommended for sex assignment (or reassignment) of infants born with
physical intersex conditions.5
Money15 reported follow-up data on this child through 9 years of age, at which time the patient was described as having many
"tomboyish traits, such as abundant physical energy, a high level of activity . . . and being often the dominant one in a girl's group."15 Money reported, however, that a female
gender identity had apparently differentiated: "Her behavior is so
normally that of an active little girl, and so clearly different by
contrast from the boyish ways of her twin brother, that it offers
nothing to stimulate one's conjectures."15 Thus, Money
concluded that "gender identity is sufficiently incompletely
differentiated at birth as to permit successful assignment of a genetic
male as a girl . . . and differentiates in keeping with the experiences of rearing."15 When Money first reported the case, it
received widespread media attention16 and was noted in many
pediatric, psychology, and sociology textbooks as a powerful proof of
the importance of environmental influences on gender identity
formation.17
Subsequently, however, Diamond17 reported the further
course of events for this patient. By early adolescence, the patient had rejected the female identity and, at 14 years of age, began to live
as a male.18 Indeed, when interviewed in his early 30s, the
patient's recall of his childhood gender development was that he had
never felt comfortable as a girl, and his mother reported similar
recollections. At age 14, the patient received a mastectomy and began
testosterone replacement therapy; surgical procedures for phallus
construction were performed at 15 and 16 years of age. At 25 years of
age, the patient married a woman several years his senior and adopted
her children. The patient reported exclusive sexual attraction to
females.18
The long-term psychosexual outcome of this patient, which also received
recent widespread media attention,19-22 has been used as
evidence against the importance of sex of rearing for gender identity
formation and also as a general critique of the guidelines of
psychosexual management that have been used in the care of infants with
physical intersex conditions.18,23
Unfortunately, the factors that resulted in the long-term outcome for
the case remain unclear. On the one hand, the eventual adoption of a
male gender identity and the emergence of sexual feelings toward women
could be viewed as primarily attributable to the influence of a normal
male sexual biology in utero.18,23,24 On the other hand,
the failure of the female gender identity to maintain itself by
adolescence could be attributed to psychosocial factors, such as
parental ambivalence regarding the initial decision to reassign the
infant as a girl. Ultimately, all one can conclude is that the
experiment of nurture eventually failed, but why it did cannot be
determined.
The present case report is a long-term psychosexual follow-up on a
second case of ablatio penis, alluded to by Money15 but reported here for the first time.
The patient is a chromosomal 46 XY male. During an
electrocautery circumcision at 2 months of age, the patient sustained a burn of the skin of the entire penile shaft, and the penis eventually sloughed off. Consequently, the patient was unable to void through the
urethra, resulting in a suprapubic cystostoma. The patient was
hospitalized subsequently for care of the surgical complications, and
at 7 months of age was referred to Johns Hopkins Hospital (by ABC, the
mother's obstetrician and the physician who had delivered the
patient), where the remainder of the penis and the testes were removed.
The suprapubic cystostoma was eventually closed, and the patient was
then able to void through the urethra. Sometime between the
circumcision accident and the hospital admission, the decision was made
to reassign the patient as a female and to raise the baby as a girl.
This was recognized formally at the time the patient was admitted to
Johns Hopkins, because the infant was identified in hospital records as
female.
The patient was interviewed on two occasions by a psychiatrist (SJB):
at 16 years of age and twice while in hospital for additional surgery
at 26 years of age. When the patient was 16, her mother also was
interviewed. At age 26, the patient also was evaluated independently by
a gynecologist (GDO) and then, after surgical complications (see
below), by ABC several months later.
At 16 and 26 years of age, the patient was living socially as a woman.
She denied any uncertainty about being female from as far back as she
could remember and did not report any dysphoric feelings about being a
woman. Indeed, three of the present authors who interviewed the patient
(SJB, GDO, ABC) were in agreement that she was comfortable living as a
woman. She recalled that during childhood, however, she self-identified
as a "tomboy" and enjoyed stereotypically masculine toys and games.
On the other hand, the patient had not engaged in cross-dressing or
other forms of passing as a boy, and she recalled that her favorite
playmates usually were girls and that her best friend was always a
girl.
The patient's perception was that her mother was a
"matter-of-fact" individual who, when told that she needed to rear
her child as a female, simply did so. The patient indicated that in this respect she is much like her mother and, despite numerous adversities, has decided that she simply has to get on with life and do
whatever she can rather than worry or obsess about issues.
Before the patient's birth, the parents were having long-standing
marital difficulties and were seen for counseling by ABC. The
patient's conception was motivated, in part, by the parent's attempt
to salvage their marriage; however, the parents eventually divorced
when the patient was approximately 3 to 4 years of age, in part because
of the father's alcoholism but also because of the father having had a
greater difficulty than the mother in dealing with the "loss" of
his son. After a few years, her mother remarried and the patient
developed a positive relationship with her stepfather, although there
were some concerns about his drinking and his relationship with her
mother.
Two months before the patient's 11th birthday, she was started on
feminizing hormonal therapy (Premarin), which has continued to the
present time. The patient was told about the circumcision and penile
ablation when she was 12 years of age because she had begun asking her
mother whether there was something wrong with her. During the interview
with the mother when the patient was 16, she reported that the penile
stub, which had been left after the initial surgery, became erect when
the patient showered or swam, and that this caused some difficulties
dressing her in bathing suits. At 16 years of age, the patient reported
that she was aware that her genitalia looked neither exactly like those
of other girls nor like those of a boy.
When seen at age 16, the patient had been admitted to hospital for
vaginoplasty. At that time, she denied any concerns about her gender
identity and clearly wished to proceed with the repair of her genitalia
to make them suitable for sexual intercourse with males.
At 26 years of age, the patient returned to hospital for additional
vaginoplasty. She reported difficulty with intercourse after her
earlier surgery because the vaginal opening was too small. At the time
of the second surgery, she was in a relationship with a man and wished
to be able to have intercourse. She also reported three significant
sexual relationships with women. The patient noted that she found women
more physically attractive than men, especially when naked. She found
male genitalia "funny"; however, she found men sexually attractive
if they were clothed or in underwear. In addition to the three
relationships with women, the patient reported three sexual
relationships with men. She reported better relationships with men in
terms of sharing interests (eg, in her occupation) and a sense of
openness with them. She felt, however, that she got along better
sexually with women. In the relationship with her current male partner,
she reported that she had tried to scare him off, apparently out of a
sense that he would reject her when he knew her. Despite these rebuffs on her part, they appeared to be getting along well and she had begun
to realize that he was, in fact, accepting of her and liked her for who
she was.
Physically, the patient presented as a tall (175 cm), thin female,
casually dressed but readily perceived as a woman. On examination at
age 26 (performed by GDO), her breast development was Tanner stage V
with a B size cup. Abdominal and pubic examination revealed a mons with
a midline deficit consistent with her two previous reconstructive
surgeries. The external genitalia showed prominent, redundant,
bilateral rugated labia majora with a positive cremasteric reflex. The
remains of the penile glans were consistent in size with a normal
clitoris but deviated to the right. It was positive for sensation. She
had a palpable, thick chord of erectile tissue running from the glans
over the pubic symphysis, remnants of the corpus spongiosum. She
specifically complained of engorgement of this area with sexual
arousal. She had a 2-cm mass on the anterior aspect of the left labia
majora which she found irritating; it was later determined to be the
remnants of the scrotal sac. The vaginal introitus had a reasonable
opening, acceptable for intercourse; however, there was a stenotic band
on the right anterior margin which she complained made intercourse
painful. The vaginal canal accepted two fingers with good length, but
deviated 30 degrees to the patient's left and reportedly made
penile-vaginal intercourse impossible. She reported arousal with
stimulation of the reconstructed clitoris and her breasts.
The patient denied ever feeling that she had wanted to be a male and
saw many advantages to being female; however, she readily acknowledged
masculine interests, consistent with her occupation in a "blue
collar" job practiced almost exclusively by men. She did not report a
desire to become a parent. Despite her masculine occupational and
recreational interests, she related to the interviewer as a female,
discussing her dilemmas around her current relationship. She reported
that previously she used to dislike her nose and thought that she was
too skinny and too tall, but now feels that the only part of her body
that bothers her are her genitals. This was related to their
interfering with her being able to have intercourse. Her overall
lifetime score on the Kinsey scale25 (a 7-point rating
scale, where 0 = exclusive heterosexuality and 6 = exclusive homosexuality) in fantasy was a 5 (predominant sexual attraction to
women) and in behavior was a 3 (equivalent amounts of sexual experience
with men and women). The patient's self-described sexual identity was
"bisexual."
Unfortunately, after the most recent surgery, the patient developed a
recto-vaginal fistula. Within a few months of the surgery, the patient
and her male partner separated for reasons other than the patient's
physical problems. The patient's post-surgery complications have been
monitored by ABC and she reported to him that she was currently living
with a new partner, a woman, in a lesbian relationship.
The psychosexual development of our patient was both similar to
and different from the patient described
earlier.15,17,18 Our patient differentiated a female
gender identity, with no evidence of gender dysphoria in childhood,
adolescence, and adulthood; in contrast, the other patient had adopted
a male gender identity after experiencing intense discomfort living as
a female, apparently from approximately the beginning of
adolescence,17 if not earlier.18,22 At the time
of the interview at age 26, our patient was living with a man, but they
subsequently separated and she began a new relationship with a woman.
The other patient was married to a woman. Our patient had a bisexual
sexual identity; the other patient had a heterosexual sexual identity.
The patients were similar in that they had a childhood history of
tomboy-like behavior, including a high activity level and a preference
for stereotypically masculine toys. However, our patient also recalled
healthy friendships with other girls, compared with the other
patient, who was apparently rejected and socially ostracized by
other girls.17 Our patient was predominantly sexually
attracted to women; the other patient was exclusively sexually
attracted to women. Our patient had sexual experiences with both women
and men; the other patient had sexual experiences only with women.
The most plausible explanation of our patient's differentiation of a
female gender identity is that sex of rearing as a female, beginning at
approximately 7 months of age, overrode any putative influences of a
normal prenatal masculine sexual biology. Although it is not possible
to state with precision what constituted our patient's sex of rearing
as a girl, it clearly included her parents agreeing to the sex
reassignment decision (although this was easier for the mother than for
the father), the adoption of a stereotypically female name, and the
patient being perceived as a girl by significant others in her social
environment. In this case, then, the experiment of nurture was
successful regarding female gender identity differentiation.
There are two likely reasons, perhaps related, why the gender identity
development of our patient differentiated as a female, whereas it did
not (at least in the long run) in the previous case. First, in our
case, the decision to reassign the patient to the female sex occurred
approximately between 2 and 7 months of age; in the other case, it
occurred only at 17 months, and surgical castration and vaginoplasty
were performed at 21 months. Second, it is possible that the parents of
our patient, particularly the mother, had less ambivalence about the
decision than the parents of the other patient, perhaps because the
decision was made earlier in the patient's life.
It is, however, of importance that our patient had a strong history of
behavioral masculinity during childhood and a predominance of sexual
attraction to females in fantasy. Girls with CAH also display masculine
gender role behavior7,26 and, in adulthood, are more likely
to be bisexual or homosexual than are female
controls.8,27,28
Some would argue, therefore, that both the behavioral masculinity in
childhood and the predominance of sexual attraction to females in
adulthood are related to our patient's normal masculine sexual biology
in utero, particularly with regard to prenatal androgenization of the
central nervous system.29,30 Perhaps, therefore, these two
components of psychosexual differentiation-gender role and sexual
orientation Nonetheless, it also is important to note that our patient desired, at
least at the time of our evaluation, to pursue a sexual relationship
with a man; indeed, her primary reason to seek additional vaginoplasty
in adulthood was to enhance the sexual aspect of that relationship.
However, during the course of our interviews with the patient at age
26, she switched from living with a man to living with a woman,
suggesting that her partner preferences remain in flux, and the
long-term nature of her interpersonal sexual relations is uncertain.
Because cases of ablatio penis in infancy are so rare, and long-term
follow-up data are scant, it is obviously impossible to know whether
our patient or the previous case would be more typical of the
psychosexual outcome in a larger sample of such individuals. However,
our case suggests that it is possible for a female gender identity to
differentiate in a biologically normal genetic male, which supports the
original conclusion of Money et al5 that sex of rearing may
be the most important determinant of a person's gender identity.
At present, however, the clinical literature is deeply divided on the
best way to manage cases of traumatic loss of the penis during
infancy.2,18,34-37 On the one hand, there is resort to the
orthodox policy advocated by Money and colleagues.1,5 On
the other hand, Diamond and Sigmundson18 suggest that such patients be reared as boys, despite the absence of a penis, on the
grounds that the central nervous system has been biased in a masculine
direction, in part because of normal prenatal androgenization. They
recommend that "[s]urgery to repair any genital problem, although
difficult, should be conducted in keeping with this
paradigm."18 To some extent, the course of action in
individual cases may be dictated partly by parental choice between
these two competing models of psychosexual management. Additional study
is clearly required to decide which model of management results in the
best possible psychosocial and psychosexual adaptation for individuals so affected.
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INTRODUCTION
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Case Report
Discussion
References
![]()
CASE REPORT
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Case Report
Discussion
References
![]()
DISCUSSION
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Case Report
Discussion
References
are more strongly influenced by biologic factors than
is gender identity formation. This conjecture is consistent with
experimental research on lower animals in which, for example, it is
well established that female fetuses exposed to increased levels of
androgen exhibit a shift toward male-typical patterns of gender role
behavior and sex-of-partner preference.31-33 There is,
however, no comparable animal analogue for human gender identity
formation, given its subjective, phenomenologic nature.
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FOOTNOTES |
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Our patient has provided informed consent for publication of the information on her history described in this article.
Received for publication Nov 21, 1997; accepted Feb 24, 1998.
This work was presented in part at the meeting of the International Academy of Sex Research; July 23-26, 1997, Baton Rouge, LA.
Reprint requests to (S.J.B.) Child and Family Studies Centre, Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, 250 College St, Toronto, Ontario M5T 1R8 Canada.
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ABBREVIATIONS |
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CAH, congenital adrenal hyperplasia.
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REFERENCES |
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Hampson JG,
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- Stoller RJ The hermaphroditic identity of hermaphrodites. J Nerv Ment Dis. 1964; 139:453-457
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- Reiner WG Sex assignment in the neonate with intersex or inadequate genitalia. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1997; 151:1044-1045 [Medline]
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- Money J. Case consultation: ablatio penis. Med Law. In press
- Stoller RJ The hermaphroditic identity of hermaphrodites. J Nerv Ment Dis. 1964; 139:453-457
Pediatrics (ISSN 0031 4005). Copyright ©1998 by the American Academy of Pediatrics
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