Baby with rare birth disorder born in Aurangabad GMCH

CLEARED SKHER

Aurangabad: The Government Medical College and Hospital (

GMCH

) here recently witnessed the

birth

of a

baby

with ambiguous genitalia, a

rare

birth

disorder

in which the gender of the newborn cannot be defined immediately with the binary notion of male or female bodies.

Dr Shriniwas Gadappa, head of department of obstetrics and gynaecology at GMCH, on Tuesday said ambiguous genitalia occurs due to hormone abnormalities during pregnancy. A disruption of the steps that determine sex can result in a mismatch between the appearance of the external genitals and the internal sex organs or the genetic sex.

“Such abnormalities affect foetus’s developing sex organs. The genital of newborn with ambiguous genitalia cannot be identified as male or female due complex developments of tissues. Besides hormonal abnormalities, a family history of such disorder is also an important factor in the occurrence of the rare disorder,” he said.

Gadappa said the sex of the child with the disorder is decided depending upon the sexual orientation and other characteristics during growth stages.

“We are carrying out different tests and investigations of the newborn to decide the line of treatment. The option of medications and / or surgery can be explored later depending upon the lab reports,” he said.

The baby was born on September 14 and was discharge from the hospital recently. The GMCH authorities have also counselled the parents, who are coping with the medical emergency arising after the birth of their first child.

The 24-year-old father of the baby said he was awaiting lab reports. “Our entire family is going through an ordeal at present. We pray to God that our child comes out of all this and leads a normal life,” he said.