Do all babies start off as females?

[Worldstream]

I was told by a couple of people all babies are female at first then they change later on.
Is this true?

[Inexpensivefurniture]

The short answer is yes. The long answer is that it's not so much that they all start off female. It's that they all start with indistinguishable genitals so they all LOOK female. The gonads haven't become ovaries or testicles yet, so the developing fetus has the genetic blueprints for what it will be, but hasn't become yet.

[Anonymous]

I don't know, maybe I mean the inside looks like the head of penis

[Worldstream]

Apparently my science teacher says all male's were born as female's first then they change

[Opinion Owner]

I mean if a man can become a woman by Surgery, then it is possible
Read this
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/326590

[Worldstream]

During early development the gonads of the fetus remain undifferentiated; that is, all fetal genitalia are the same and are phenotypically female. After approximately 6 to 7 weeks of gestation, however, the expression of a gene on the Y chromosome induces changes that result in the development of the testes.

[Bee-Hatch]

No its not true. But the parts that form boy or girl parts start out as the same thing. Testicles and ovaries start the same way.

[Worldstream]

What do you mean the same thing

[I-have-a-biscuit]

The sex isn't the first thing that forms in the uterus. The fetus has no sex differentiation until a few weeks (don't know how many) when the sexual organs start forming and the fetus diverges to either male or female

[Bee-Hatch]

&Worldstream what I mean by same thing is they are the same thing at the start of foetus development. It's something most 11-12 year old learn in sex education classes.

teachmeanatomy.info/.../

[Worldstream]

Oh ok, Then it looks like i was taught wrong

[SoWhatHuh]

Nope, it's just that male sex organs develop differently and all but your gender is decided by your chromosomes so no

[Worldstream]

I am digging in the topic to try to find the answer but i found this: Geneticists have discovered that all human embryos start life as females, as do all embryos of mammals. About the 2nd month the fetal tests elaborate enough androgens to offset the maternal estrogens and maleness develops. What do you think about it

[SoWhatHuh]

Look, the development stages to some degree are same for both genders but ultimately your gender is destined the moment the sperm and egg cells meet, if the sperm contains an X chromosome the embryo is a female and if it has a Y chromosome then it's a male. It's not just what external organs we have or how we look that makes us our gender, it's the chromosomes. You can't expect a tiny cell to suddenly develop a penis or a vagina or what not, there has to be a framework before that can happen.

[SoWhatHuh]

So ultimately it doesn't mean embryos all start off as females, they all just "look" the same

[Madladd]

Nah they just start up with a micropenis.

[Avicenna]

What @sowhathuh said is correct.

[IAMNativeson87]

Technically they're zygotes if my memory serves me correctly. And the have the XY chromosome.

[Anonymous]

Kind of. Ever notice that seam that runs down your ball sack? That used to be your vagina before it fused closed. But you always have the male chromosome, which is why it fuses closed in the first place. You're always male, you just don't look it.