A total of 49,162 cases of hypospadias were reported in the United States between 1970 and 1993. The defect rates increased around the country. Hypospadias, which now affects about 1 of every 100 newborn boys, occurs when the urinary opening is not at the end of the penis. In its mildest form, the opening is under the head of the penis. In severe cases, it is as far away as the scrotum.
Surgery can correct the defect, the earlier the better.
The cause of the defect isn't known but is believed to be linked to an insufficient surge of testosterone 9 to 12 weeks after conception. Testosterone is key to the development of the male reproductive system. The increases the CDC documented are the first outside of Europe, where hypospadias rates sharply rose in Denmark, England, Hungary, Norway and Sweden in the 1970s and '80s. Several studies in the 1970s attempted to link those surges to the hormone progestin in oral contraceptives taken by the babies' mothers. A 1967 study found that progestin causes the defect in rats.