The village where girls turn into boys at the age of 12

Until Johnny was 12, everyone thought he was a girl.

But they were wrong.

He is known as a ‘Guevedoce’, meaning ‘penis at 12’, because his genitals did not develop until puberty.

In his isolated village of Salinas, in the south west of the Dominican Republic, where this happens to one in 90 boys in the area, and is no longer considered abnormal.

Dr Michael Mosley spoke to him for the BBC2 series ‘Countdown to Life’.

The Telegraph reports Johnny said: ‘I remember I used to wear a little red dress.

‘I was born at home instead of in a hospital. They didn’t know what sex I was.

‘I went to school and I used to wear my skirt. I never liked to dress as a girl. When they bought me girls toys I never bothered playing with them. All I wanted to do was play with the boys.’

The rare genetic condition was first uncovered by Dr Julianne Imperato.

Scientists believe it happens because of a missing enzyme, which prevents male sex hormone dihydro-testosterone forming.

Because it’s so common – and is believed to be caused by the isolation of villagers – the Dominican Republic now now classifies people as male, female, or pseudohermaphrodite.