Androgens - female homosexuality

Sexual orientation in women with classical or non-classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia as a function of degree of prenatal androgen excess.

Arch Sex Behav. 2008 Feb;37(1):85-99.

Meyer-Bahlburg HF, Dolezal C, Baker SW, New MI.

46,XX individuals with classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) due to deficiency of the enzyme, 21-hydroxylase, show variable degrees of masculinization of body and behavior due to excess adrenal androgen production. Increased bisexuality and homosexuality have also been reported. This article provides a review of existing reports of the latter and presents a new study aimed at replicating the previous findings with detailed assessments of sexual orientation on relatively large samples, and at extending the investigation to the mildest form, non-classical (NC) CAH. Also, this is the first study to relate sexual orientation to the specific molecular genotypes of CAH. In the present study, 40 salt-wasters (SW), 21 SV (simple-virilizing), 82 NC, and 24 non-CAH control women (sisters and female cousins of CAH women) were blindly administered the Sexual Behavior Assessment Schedule (SEBAS-A, 1983 ed.; H. F. L. Meyer-Bahlburg & A. A. Ehrhardt, Privately printed). Most women were heterosexual, but the rates of bisexual and homosexual orientation were increased above controls not only in women with classical CAH, but also in NC women, and correlated with the degree of prenatal androgenization. Classifying women by molecular genotypes did not further increase the correlation. Diverse aspects of sexual orientation were highly intercorrelated, and principal components analysis yielded one general factor. Bisexual/homosexual orientation was (modestly) correlated with global measures of masculinization of non-sexual behavior and predicted independently by the degree of both prenatal androgenization and masculinization of childhood behavior. We conclude that the findings support a sexual-differentiation perspective involving prenatal androgens on the development of sexual orientation.

New York State Psychiatric Institute & Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, 1051 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10032, USA. meyerb@childpsych.columbia.edu


Gender development in women with congenital adrenal hyperplasia as a function of disorder severity.

Arch Sex Behav. 2006 Dec;35(6):667-84. Epub 2006 Aug 11.

Meyer-Bahlburg HF, Dolezal C, Baker SW, Ehrhardt AA, New MI.

Prenatal-onset classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) in 46,XX individuals is associated with variable masculinization/defeminization of the genitalia and of behavior, presumably both due to excess prenatal androgen production. The purpose of the current study was threefold: (1) to extend the gender-behavioral investigation to the mildest subtype of 46,XX CAH, the non-classical (NC) variant, (2) to replicate previous findings on moderate and severe variants of 46,XX CAH using a battery of diversely constructed assessment instruments, and (3) to evaluate the utility of the chosen assessment instruments for this area of work. We studied 63 women with classical CAH (42 with the salt wasting [SW] and 21 with the simple virilizing [SV] variant), 82 women with the NC variant, and 24 related non-CAH sisters and female cousins as controls (COS). NC women showed a few signs of gender shifts in the expected direction, SV women were intermediate, and SW women most severely affected. In terms of gender identity, two SW women were gender-dysphoric, and a third had changed to male in adulthood. All others identified as women. We conclude that behavioral masculinization/defeminization is pronounced in SW-CAH women, slight but still clearly demonstrable in SV women, and probable, but still in need of replication in NC women. There continues a need for improved instruments for gender assessment.

NYS Psychiatric Institute/Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, 1051 Riverside Drive, NYSPI Unit 15, New York, New York 10032, USA. meyerb@childpsych.columbia.edu