An article in the latest issue of the Gullible Inquirer claims that a person was born with both a and a clitoris. Why is that impossible?
a) It is impossible to have both estrogen and testosterone.
b) The clitoris does not develop until well after birth.
c) A person with both testosterone and estrogen would develop no genitals.
d) and clitoris develop from the same structure in the fetus.
d is my answer
Your answer, option D, is incorrect. The correct answer is option C, which states that a person with both testosterone and estrogen would develop no genitals.
To understand why this is the correct answer, we need to clarify some aspects of human development. During fetal development, all embryos have the potential to develop either male or female genitals. The presence of the Y chromosome triggers the development of male genitalia, specifically the , while the absence of the Y chromosome leads to the development of female genitalia, including the clitoris.
The development of male or female genitals primarily depends on the presence or absence of testosterone and estrogen. In individuals with a Y chromosome, the testes produce testosterone, which is responsible for the masculinization of the reproductive system and the development of male-specific organs like the . In the absence of testosterone, the default pathway leads to female genital development, including the formation of the clitoris.
It is important to note that both male and female genitals develop from the same structure—the genital tubercle—in the early stages of fetal development. The genital tubercle has the potential to develop into either a or a clitoris, depending on hormonal signaling.
However, it is not possible for a person to be born with both a and a clitoris simultaneously. This is because the presence of both testosterone and estrogen would likely disrupt the normal process of genital development. The masculinizing effects of testosterone would prevent the development of female genitalia, including the clitoris.
In conclusion, a person cannot be born with both a and a clitoris due to the biological processes involved in sexual development. The presence of both testosterone and estrogen would lead to the development of either male or female genitalia, but not both at the same time.
Your answer, option d, is incorrect. Both the and clitoris do develop from the same structure in the fetus, known as the genital tubercle. At around 8 weeks of gestation, the genital tubercle starts to differentiate into either a or clitoris, depending on the presence or absence of the protein called dihydrotestosterone (DHT). So, it is possible for a fetus to develop both a and a clitoris.
However, if the article is claiming that a person was born with both a fully developed and clitoris, that would be highly unlikely. Normally, the presence of DHT during fetal development would lead to the formation of a , while the absence of DHT would result in the development of a clitoris. In rare cases of intersex conditions, there may be ambiguous genitalia at birth, but it is not typically a fully developed and clitoris.
Therefore, the reason why the claim described in the article is impossible is not related to the development of and clitoris from the same structure, but rather because it goes against the typical outcomes of genital development.