Mother Believes She Gave Birth To Son Until Doctors Recognize Rare Disorder

Jul 01, 2020

We all understand that doctors are humans and occasionally make mistakes. However, it's rare to find a story where doctors are wrong about a child's gender! Surprisingly enough, that's exactly what happened to a couple in South Africa in 2010.

Madeleshia Hiscock and her husband were thrilled to discover that they were pregnant with their second child. They already had a daughter named Zadeleshia who was 3 years old and, like most new parents, they were most anxious to discover whether their new baby would be a boy or a girl.

During the first prenatal scan, the doctors informed the couple that they thought that they were going to give birth to a second daughter. Sadly, Madeleshia hoped she would have a boy the second time around. She told News24:

“When the first sonar scan showed it was a girl I was bitterly disappointed ... After our daughter, Zadeleshia, I really wanted a boy.”

The next two scans confirmed the doctors’ first suspicions and everything looked as if the two were going to have a little girl once again. The eagerly awaiting parents chose to name their second daughter Mckenzi.

But then everything changed at the fourth scan when the doctors announced that it appeared the baby was not going to be a girl, but instead a little boy! Instead of being upset, the parents were both excited about the prospect of welcoming a son into their home. Since they already had a daughter, Zadeleshia, the hope of a little boy was thrilling for the young family. 

Kenny Hiscock was born on Feb. 15 and the family was overjoyed, however, the questioning about the baby’s gender didn’t end at birth. After the baby was born, the doctors announced that it was a boy. But soon after he arrived in the world, Kenny began to lose weight, so his parents took him to the hospital. That's when doctors began to second guess themselves after a closer examination. Tests began to reveal that the baby might, indeed, be a little girl, but ultimately, doctors determined that the baby was in fact a boy and sent Kenny home with his parents.

While Madeleshia was happy with a little boy, she began to doubt that the doctors were right in their decision and felt as if something was seriously wrong. She told News24:

“We still weren’t sure ... The doctor had told us she had too many male hormones. We were prescribed drugs and went home without really understanding what was going on.”

Despite this, Madeleshia and her husband moved forward to christen the baby as “Kenneth” and also kept him as a male on birth certificates. But after they consulted a professional in May of that year, the couple was in for quite a surprise: baby Kenneth was actually a little girl! Doctors confirmed she had female reproductive organs but was born with a rare genetic condition called congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). This means that the Hiscock's baby simply contained an overabundance of male hormones but was actually a female, according to The Daily Mail. One of the symptoms of this rare disorder are hard-to-identify sexual characteristics; in females, a clitoris may grow into a kind of proto-penis.

According to a support group for CAH named Living With CAH, the condition occurs in 1 in every 15,000 people around the world. The group aims to bring awareness and support to those living with CAH. Their website explained:

"It is an inherited condition which prevents the adrenal glands functioning correctly. To stay healthy, people with CAH must take daily life-long medication to replace the hormones which their adrenal glands don’t make."

The condition is hereditary and can occur in both girls and boys. It occurs when an enzyme deficiency leads to abnormal hormone production in the adrenal glands. In the most common cases, it leads to the production of the hormone cortisol. In an attempt to compensate, the brain increases stimulation of the adrenal glands, but since they can't manufacture greater amounts of cortisol, they wind up producing excess male hormones or androgens.

A Johannesburg pediatrician named Dr. Segal told News24 that the condition can be rather dangerous in newborn babies because cortisol helps to maintain the body's salt levels. He added:

“It requires lifelong treatment and CAH sufferers must be monitored regularly." 

Madeleshia told the news outlet:

“I know there’s a difficult road ahead. I just wish we’d had a better idea of what to do and how to handle it."

Nevertheless, despite her unusual introduction to the world, baby Mckenzi is a happy, adorable little girl who's enjoyed spending time with her older sister as she's grown up. In fact, Mckenzi celebrated her 11th birthday in Feb. 2021 and appears to be doing well.   

Have you ever heard about CAH? How do you think you'd react if you experienced a similar situation to the Hiscocks? Let us know, then pass this on to raise awareness of this rare condition.