An acquaintance of mine is male in all respects, except that he has a vulva and clitoris between his testicles and anus. I don’t know how extensive or functional his female parts are, except that he can experience pleasure with the clitoris. His male parts are totally functional.
Obviously most people like this would keep it as a carefully guarded secret, so is there any way of knowing how rare it is?
According to the cite provided in the Wikipedia article on intersexuality, the prevalence of all forms of intersex (most of which do not present as major, external anatomical features as you describe) is around 0.018%.
It certainly isn’t unheard of at all. In days past, doctors even had standard ways of arbitrarily correcting a newborn to one sex or the other at least superficially. This caused some horrible cases that basically destroyed the sex roles = environment argument. There are several ways that someone can end up as a pseudohermaphrodite (true hermaphroditism = fully functioning as both sexes - it happens but is extremely rare).
Most people think that genetics = sex but that isn’t true. The ovaries and testes are largely determined by genetics but they send off a chain of signals that determine how the brain and body differentiate. This series of events can be altered in several ways so that a genetic male = a phenotypical female and vice-versa. It can also be interrupted so that a person ends up with phenotypical traits of both sexes.
Your friend is most likely a pseudohermaphrodite which isn’t much to be worried about unless it causes some psychological issues. Surgeons can approximate the dominate sex if it is really desired.
I should add that my grad school background was in sexual differentiation. Nobody knows how common pseudohermaphrodites are in all their flavors but almost everyone would have met several and never known it. It isn’t that rare.
Does fully functioning mean able to produce both eggs and sperm? 
Shagnasty, I have to express some strong disbelief. Possessing both a penis and a clitoris is such an unlikely combination of developmental anomalies that I can’t begin to calculate the odds. It’s far different from the usual sorts of “hermaphroditism,” or intersex, that have been reported. Almost all such cases merely involve unusual development of different tissues: tiny penis, large clitoris, fusion or lack thereof, development of ovotestes, etc.
But to have a penis AND a clitoris means that, when an embryo, the man had TWO copies of the cell mass that develops into a man’s penis or a woman’s clitoris; this normally results in diphallia. From Wikipedia:
"When diphallia is present, it is usually accompanied by other congenital anomalies such as renal, vertebral, hindgut or anorectal duplication. There is also a higher risk of spina bifida. Infants born with PD and its related conditions have a higher death rate from various infections associated with their more complex renal or colorectal systems.
It is thought diphallia occurs in the fetus between the 23rd and 25th days of gestation when an injury, chemical stress, or malfunctioning homeobox genes hamper proper function of the caudal cell mass of the fetal mesoderm as the urogenital sinus separates from the genital tubercle and rectum"
The odds of this condition occurring are about 1 in 5 million; the odds of this occurring in an otherwise healthy man are far less. I would also speculate that some sort of embryonic tumor, an incomplete twinning, or some sort of polyploidy/chimera/thing could cause it.
Second, the hormonal surge during the eighth week that differentiates the boys from the girls would have to affect one set of cells, but not the other. I don’t know how this would happen at all in the case of simple diphallus, but I suppose one of the other scenarios could allow it – if, and it’s a big if, some other anomaly is present that causes the supernumerary tissue NOT to grow into a penis, while allowing the other penis to develop normally.
Third, the conditions above would have to result in none of the harmful anomalies that usually accompany them. These three factors together are so unlikely that I have to believe that such a person would be the only one on earth. I think it’s more likely that there is, in fact, no clitoris present – just some perineal folds and maybe a sensitive spot, if that.
I know that he can reach orgasm via stimulation of the clitoris. He’s also bisexual, and has a fairly strong sex drive. Don’t know whether any of that is relevant, though.
I agree with you on all that. I was assumming that the report is off somehow because the facts don’t make much sense exactly as they are stated. However, they would be reasonable if they were modified a little to include the more common oddities that happen in sexual differentiation.
What I said was just playing the odds really. The person in question might have something that is incredibly rare but my guess is that it is something more common just slightly misreported.
I have to recommend the book Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. It won the Pulitzer prize and even if you don’t think you would like it, it is so well written that you will probably put it on your top ten list.
You’ll read a great story and learn a ton about the topic in the OP from both the clinical areas and the psychological areas.
Maybe it’s a partial conjoined twinning. Or maybe he’s lying to you. My understanding of hermaphrodism is that it’s about tissue differentiation, not duplication (except as described by Nametag).
Since the penis and the clitoris are really just the same structure, I too have a hard time believing this as described. Intersexuality does exist and there are many different variations of it, but the one described in the OP is nothing like any ambiguous genitalia I’ve ever read about before. The only way that could happen is if a male embryo and a female embryo fused and, somehow, there are no other signs of this than a clitoris and labia hidden behind the testicles. That seems misunderstood or poorly described at best.
The Intersex Society of North America page has some good resources on how common it is and what forms it takes. I’d particularly recommend their FAQ.
I think in the interests of science, you’re going to have to make a detailed inspection.
With photographs.
Ok, guys, the person in question has emailed me a photo, but asked that it not be put on the internet. The quality is a little fuzzy, but I can see an indentation between his testicles and his anus. (He’s pulling up his penis and testicles to give us a better view. The indentation is about 2" long, but I can’t see any detail or depth.
This person is not a close friend of mine, only a recent acquaintance. He’s very extroverted, and is totally candid about this. I’ll see if he’ll let me actually see it.
Dude…I can’t even imagine.
It took a ton of drugs and a 4lb 12 oz breathing tumor for me to allow friends to be able to see my stuff. (stitch, stitch, HEY CATHY! stitch)
I wouldn’t care if it was in the interest of science. While he’s holding his nutsack to the side for you, please feel free to ask him why in the hell would he do that?
Does anyone have info on the lifespan of hermaphrodites?Also,the re-occurence of same in family trees.