We understand that parents can be  confused and overwhelmed when their newborn or young child receives a diagnosis  of a disorder of sexual development, or a DSD.

At OHSU Doernbecher, we bring  expertise from urology and endocrinology together to provide comprehensive care  to your child in one location. We are  also excited to have recently joined the Disorders of Sex Development  Translational Research Network, a team of medical centers across the country  whose goal is to improve the knowledge and understanding of DSDs and to be able  to offer patients the best diagnostic and treatment plans.

We work with families to develop a treatment plan to address the unique needs of each child. At your first visit,  you can expect to meet with a pediatric urologist, whose expertise is in the  male and female urinary tract system and male reproductive organs, and a  pediatric endocrinologist, whose expertise is how the human body controls  hormones.

Other members of our team include neonatologists  and geneticists, with the intention to include psychologists in the future.

What is a DSD?

A disorder of sexual development is  one of a number of conditions that lead to atypical development of the sex organs and often include what is called “ambiguous” genitalia — genitalia that is not  clearly male or female.

In many cases, the atypical development is apparent  when the child is born. In other cases, signs are more subtle and the condition is diagnosed later in life.

The severity of a DSD varies with  specific conditions. Some conditions involve more moderate variations of  typical development; other conditions involve significant variations in both external genitalia and internal sex organ development.

Our team