When a child's gender is in question at birth, because genitals may not appear clearly male or female, the child is said to have ambiguous genitalia.
Ambiguous genitalia can be a traumatizing experience for parents.
There are a numb er of different causes of ambiguous genitalia. In many cases, the cause is not known and the disorder appears to occur by chance. When a child's genitalia appear ambiguous at birth, your child 's physician will conduct both a medical history and a physical examination of your child's external genitalia. The medical history will include the mother's health during pregnancy, and a family history of any neonatal deaths or genital abnormalities. First, your child's physician will make a diagnosis of the underlying cause of the disorder.