does that mean if you injest large quantities of estrogen, your baby has a higher chance of staying female? And if you injest large amounts of testosterone will the baby be male?
2007-11-27 13:07:42 · 7 answers · asked by Chelz 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
Technically all babies do NOT start out as females. All fetuses begin with no functional parts, but upon conception the baby's sex is already determined. The fetus will not have a penis but it will not have a vagina either. Injesting large quantities of either hormone will not alter the baby's sex. It could, in fact, cause a miscarriage depending on the quantity and the point in development in which the hormone is injested. I know a female whose mother injected herself with testosterone while she was pregnant in hopes of causing a spontaneous abortion and it did not happen. This girl was born, but now has increased levels of testosterone in her body. After puberty, she began developing facial hair and did not develop breasts the way a female normally would. Unfortunately, now she is on other hormones trying to reverse the effects of her mother's actions. She is fine mentally, and for the most part she is fine physically because she is visibly female, but her body is still feeling the effects of the testosterone she received as a fetus and she is now 25 years old.
2007-11-27 13:19:50 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
It's not so much the action of oestrogens that "change" the baby's sex: it's the presence of androgens (like testosterone).
I'm not familiar with the case Giggles cites above - but it sounds plausible.
Androgens signal the foetus to become anatomically male, and absence of androgen signalling causes the foetus to be anatomically female. I guess, from Giggles' answer, that even large doses of testosterone taken by the mother are not sufficient to change the anatomical apparent gender of the foetus - though they may have some effect. Testosterone is not the only androgen (for example, dihydrotestosterone, which is even more potent than testosterone), so perhaps the answer is that other androgens play a greater role in gender development in utero?
BTW - there is a syndrome called Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome, where the foetus is genetically male (XY), but lacks the receptors for the androgens. The androgens are still made, but cannot be detected, so the foetus "defaults" to being anatomically female (albeit sterile). This syndrome is one of the reasons why we know that androgens play a major signalling role in developmental gender determination.
2007-11-27 22:50:32 · answer #2 · answered by gribbling 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. The sex is determined by whether the baby recieved an X or Y chomosome from the father. The male/female traits simply do not show up until the pregnancy is well along.
2007-11-27 14:04:25 · answer #3 · answered by Joan H 6 · 1⤊ 2⤋
No. The babies equipment is releasing the hormones. You may be able to alter that hormonal cascade, but I will allow one of the functional biologists to field this question fully.
2007-11-27 13:13:52 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
joan's answer was totally correct. Who are the morons who gave her two thumbs down?
I tried to even up the score for you Joan. I gave you that thumbs up.
2007-12-01 04:21:49 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
you might get your answers by going to the library to search for science reference books....or going to wikipedia....
2007-11-27 13:17:00 · answer #6 · answered by Boohoo 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no.
its the sperm that decides whether its m or f!
2007-11-27 13:22:22 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋