When a child's gender is in question at birth, because genitals
may not appear clearly male or female, the child is said to have
ambiguous genitalia. Ambiguous genitalia can be a traumatizing
experience for parents. What are ambiguous genitalia? Early in
fetal development, the tissue that will become the gonads
(ovaries or testes) is undifferentiated and has the potential to
become either ovaries or testes, depending on the genetics of
the fetus. Humans have 46 chromosomes in each cell of their
body, or 23 pairs. The 23rd pair determines our gender; females
have two X chromosomes, while males have one X and one Y
chromosome. The chromosome complement in humans is written: 46,
XX, normal female or 46, XY, normal male. There is a gene
located on the short arm (top half) of the Y chromosome, called
"SRY," which, if present, will cause the undifferentiated gonad
to become testes (indicating a male) around the 6th week of
fetal life. At the same time, regression of what would have been
the female reproductive trac