Strange village, girls turn into boys at the age of 12

In Salinas, an isolated village in the southwestern Dominican Republic, children are born female but become males when they reach puberty.

Johnny was, in every way, a boy. Surprisingly, however, it was not until puberty that he developed male genitalia.

Johnny's case is not unusual, as many girls in the village suddenly become boys and it is not unusual here. Such children are often called "Guevedoces" - meaning having a penis at the age of 12, the Telegraph reported.

Johnny, now 24, was originally named Felecitia by his parents and raised as a girl.

Speaking to Dr Michael Mosley on the BBC, the young man said: "I remember I used to wear a red dress. I was born at home, not in hospital."

"They didn't know what my gender was. I went to school and I wore dresses. I never liked wearing dresses like a girl. When my parents bought me girl's toys, I didn't play with them. I just wanted to play with boys."

The cases are thought to stem from a rare genetic disorder. It occurs when an enzyme is absent, preventing the production of a particular form of the male sex hormone in the womb.

All fetuses, whether male or female, have an internal gland called a gonad and a small swelling between their legs called a "tubercle."

At 8 weeks, male fetuses carrying the Y chromosome will begin to produce male sex hormones in large quantities and the tubercle will turn into a penis. In females, the tubercle will become a clitoris.

However, some male fetuses lack the enzyme 5-α, an important factor in causing the hormone surge, so when born they look like girls, without testicles and seemingly only have a vagina.

At puberty, when a large amount of male sex hormones are produced, male genitalia appear. What should have happened 12 years earlier and in the mother's womb, now appears. At this time, the boys' voices begin to break and the penis appears.

Guevedoces disease was discovered in the 1970s by Cornell University endocrinologist Julianne Imperato, who traveled to the Dominican Republic to investigate rumors of girls turning into boys.

According to Vietnamnet