Hermaphroditism in children
Hermaphroditism or ambiguous genitalia, also known as hermaphroditism, is the result of abnormal sexual differentiation. It refers to the phenotypic sex being in an intersex state that cannot be determined or the phenotypic sex being contradictory to the gonadal sex or genetic sex. Male and female sex can be distinguished based on sex chromosomes, gonadal structure, the morphology of internal and external genitalia, and secondary sexual characteristics. However, some patients have different degrees of hermaphroditism, that is, people who do not conform to typical male and female characteristics. Extremely serious sexual abnormalities, especially external genitalia, have both male and female characteristics, which affects the determination of sex. From a pathological perspective, hermaphroditism is divided into gonadal and external genital differentiation abnormalities.