"She Hadn't Had Her First Period and Went to the Hospital..." Two Testicles Found Inside Japanese High School Girl's Body; Medical Community Says It Is "Highly Unusual" [Health Talk]

[Financial News] A Japanese high school girl who went to the hospital because she had not had her first period was found during testing to have testicles inside her body.
On the 26th, Withnews, an online outlet affiliated with The Asahi Shimbun, introduced the story of A, who was raised as a woman and was diagnosed with a disorder of sex development during her high school years. According to the report, after visiting several hospitals, A learned that her sex chromosomes were XY and that she had two testicles inside her body.
Born in 1981 in Japan's northern Kanto region, A grew up as a girl. Since childhood, she had known that there was a lump shaped like a ball near her external genitalia, but she had no particular pain or health problems. Her parents also knew about it, but because no unusual symptoms appeared, they did not take her to a hospital.
She first sought medical care only after reaching high school age without having her first period. In her first year of high school, she visited three gynecology clinics, but the exact cause was not easily identified. A reportedly heard only responses such as, "We are not sure."
The unexpected truth came to light after she underwent a detailed examination in the urology department at a regional national university hospital.
The test results confirmed that A's sex chromosomes were XY. XY is generally the chromosome pattern seen in males.
An MRI scan also revealed the identity of the protrusion that had been present near her external genitalia since childhood. It was a testicle. A had two testicles, one protruding outside the body and the other located inside.
The attending physician at the time reportedly searched medical textbooks and said, "This is the first case I have ever seen." A was later diagnosed with disorders of sex development (DSD).
Considering the risk of tumors in the testicle remaining inside her body, A underwent surgery to remove the testicles at age 25.
She now takes female hormones every day to stay healthy, and no abnormalities have been found in blood tests conducted every six months.
Disorders of sex development can vary widely from person to person in the time of discovery, symptoms, and severity. It is a medical concept related to physical sex development and is separate from gender identity such as transgender or non-binary.
In some cases, the condition is identified right after birth through the appearance of the genitalia. In others, as in A's case, there are no obvious outward symptoms during childhood, so it may only be discovered after puberty when menstruation does not begin or secondary sex characteristics develop differently than expected, leading the person to undergo detailed testing at a hospital.
Satoshi Narumi, a professor of pediatrics at Keio University Hospital, explained that "only about one in 5,000 patients has symptoms severe enough to make it difficult to determine sex at birth."
However, it is known that some people with mild symptoms live without ever knowing the exact condition of their bodies.
[email protected] Ahn Ga-eul Reporter