Partial Masculinization of the Female Fetus by the Administration of Oral and Intramuscular Progestins During Gestation

Abstract

The purpose of this letter is to bring rapidly to the attention of pediatricians and obstetricians a type of sexual abnormality which, if recognized early, is of relatively little importance or can be readily corrected, but which if wrongly diagnosed or treated may be disastrous to both child and parents. During the past month, three infants have been born in Baltimore with this condition which is of iatrogenic origin. We have studied 17 female patients showing, at birth, partial masculinization of the external genitalia consisting of an enlarged phallus, with or without varying degrees of fusion of the labioscrotal folds.