Do fetuses with "super male syndrome" need to be aborted, otherwise they will grow up to be criminals?

A fetus found to have "super male syndrome" needs to be aborted, otherwise it will become a criminal when it grows up?

2024-07-28

flow

“Super male syndromechildren are potential criminals? "

Some netizens asked for help online, asking what to do if the fetus is suspected of "hyperandrogenic syndrome". Netizens said that such children will have high testosterone levels in the future and are prone to antisocial personality, and suggested abortion to prevent the child from committing crimes in the future.

Word

Rumor Analysis

This statement is truly sensational.

"Super Male Syndrome = Criminal ReserveThe wrong impression comes fromMore studies have proven that super male syndrome does not increase the risk of crime as rumored, and the testosterone levels of super male syndrome patients are no different from those of ordinary men.

Recently, a pregnant woman in Sichuan Province was diagnosed with "super male syndrome" in her fetus during prenatal diagnosis. After posting the information online, it caused a strong controversy. Many netizens got the message that "super male = born violent tendency or antisocial personality".Reserve) and concerns about public security, and recommends pregnant women to have abortions. So, is "super male syndrome" really "born bad"? Perhaps we need to treat this issue more rationally.

The picture comes from the Internet

What is Super Male Syndrome?

Normal male somatic cells contain 23 pairs of chromosomes, including 22 pairs of autosomes and one pair of sex chromosomes, written as 46,XY. Among them, the X chromosome comes from the mother's egg, and the Y chromosome comes from the father's sperm. If the sperm that fertilizes the sperm makes a mistake during meiosis, resulting in the Y chromosome not separating normally, it will make the sperm and the resulting fertilized egg have an extra Y chromosome, that is, 47,XYY. This situation is called 47,XYY syndrome, also known as "super male syndrome".

In addition, during the mitosis of fertilized eggs and embryonic development, some cells may have extra Y chromosomes due to abnormal chromosome separation. In this case, there are both normal 46,XY cells and 47,XYY cells produced by errors in the body, which is called XY/XYY mosaicism, which is also a type of super male syndrome (this is the case with the fetus in the news event).

In 1961, Avery Sandberg, a physician and cytogeneticist in New York, and several other authors published the first report on a man with a 47,XYY karyotype. The man was 44 years old, 183 cm tall, had normal intelligence, and had a daughter with Down syndrome., this abnormality was discovered accidentally during chromosome karyotype analysis.

Four years later, British geneticist Jacobs（Patricia Jacobs）For thisThe situation was studied in more depth and described in detail.Therefore, 47,XYY syndrome is also called Jacobs syndrome.

Judging from appearance

Super male syndrome?

In a cross-sectional study, researchers found that some super male patients had curved fingers, wide eyes, dental problems (including mandibular protrusion, crossbite and macrodontia), hypotonia, flat feet, etc. However, the subjects included in this study were 47,XYY patients who were treated for developmental or behavioral problems, so the analysis results are not representative of the general public.These physical characteristics or symptoms are far from being unique to 47,XYY patients, so it is even more impossible to infer 47,XYY syndrome based solely on these symptoms.

In fact, the only common physical features of 47,XYY syndrome seem to be rapid growth in childhood (average height is 7 cm more than expected) and tall stature in adulthood (height is usually over 1.85 m). Most 47,XYY patients have normal appearance and no other special features except height. This has led to more than 85% of hyperandrogenic patients never being diagnosed.

"Super male syndrome" is

Criminal reserve"?

Most people's impression of "super male syndrome" as a violent tendency comes from Jacobs's 1965In this study, 197 men with mental disorders, violent and criminal tendencies admitted to an institution were tested, and 7 47,XYY and one XY/XYY chimera were found. Based on this data, many people have the impression that 47,XYY has "violent tendencies" and "antisocial personality". This impression has been deeply rooted in people's minds due to media reports, so much so that the following comments have appeared.

The picture comes from the Internet

However, Jacobs' research soon aroused controversy and doubts.

A 1970 study examined the chromosomes of 190 prisoners in Tennessee serving life or very long sentences.No prisoners were found to have detectable chromosomal abnormalities including an XYY chromosome pattern.Similar research methods have produced completely negative results, which is enough to shake the credibility of Jacobs' research conclusions.

In 1976, a large cohort study of 31,436 men performed chromosome analysis on 4,139 men with a height of more than 1.84 meters and found that 12 subjects had 47,XYY syndrome, with a prevalence of 2.9/1000. Among them, 5 men（41.7%）have committed one or more crimes, and this rate is significantly higher than that of XY males（9.3%）However, when the researchers analyzed the types of crimes committed by the XYY subjects, they found that their crimes were the same as those of the XY prisoners, all of which were minor crimes such as robbery, and there was no violence against people, which directly negated Jacobs' research conclusions.

A 1983 study reported thatThere is no evidence that XYY males are particularly violent or aggressive, nor are XYY males at a higher risk of committing crimes than XY males of similar intelligence.。

A 2012 Danish analysis of 161 men aged 15-70 with 47,XYY syndrome showed that the increased risk of crime in these men was mainly due to poor living conditions rather than chromosomal abnormalities.

Reviewing the research on 47,XYY syndrome since its discovery,There is no statistical evidence that 47,XYY males are more likely to be aggressive or have abnormal behaviors simply because of their chromosome abnormality.After adjusting for intelligence, socioeconomic status, and other factors, XYY males were no more violent than XY males. Even the theory that "XYYs have higher levels of testosterone, so they are more violent" doesn't hold up.Because the androgen levels of XYY males are no different than those of XY males.

These studies have shown thatWhen people mention "super male syndrome", they characterize it as "antisocial personality" and "criminal preparation", which is actually a stigmatization of a disease.The prevalence of 47,XXY in males is 0.3-3.7/1000. Most patients are not diagnosed and may never be diagnosed in their lifetime because their intelligence, appearance and social function are no different from others. These ordinary people and unborn children should not be blamed or discriminated against because of the disease.

Prenatal check-up found super male baby

How to choose?

Domestic prenatal screening and prenatal diagnosis strategies currently only focus on screening and diagnosing diseases such as trisomy 18, trisomy 21, major thalassemia, and significant structural malformations that can cause severe disability or even death.

Image from Science Rumor Refutation New Media

47,XYY is a subtle chromosomal abnormality that is often only discovered accidentally during amniocentesis and is not a routine screening target. In the routine prenatal checkup process for ordinary pregnant women, Down syndrome screening, non-invasive DNA testing, and B-ultrasound for fetal abnormalities cannot detect 47,XYY. The person involved in this incident also learned about the fetal XY/XYY mosaicism after amniocentesis. Therefore, this decision is destined to be a worry for only a very small number of parents.

So, what should we do when we encounter this situation?

Emotionally, everyone wants to have a baby that is as healthy as possible. So if no abnormality is found, it is fine. But if a problem is found, no matter how big or small, it will become a thorn in the parents' hearts.

For example, the 47,XYY syndrome this time, although it does not have innate violent tendencies and antisocial personality as everyone thinks, many studies have found that 47,XYY is related to slightly lower intelligence scores, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, etc. These do require parents to weigh the pros and cons.

If you choose to give birth to this baby, you need to truly let go of your grudges and prejudices and face the challenges that your child may encounter during his or her growth (Including own shortcomings and external pressureIf you choose to give up, that is understandable. What the doctor can do is just to inform the parents of the relevant information as comprehensively and objectively as possible. The final decision of whether to stay or go is up to the parents themselves.

This brings us to another issue: Can we pursue a child who is “healthy enough”?

Many people think that since we want to have good birth and good upbringing, isn't it natural to give up the child after finding out the chromosomal abnormality? The problem is actually not that simple. As mentioned above, many 47,XYY syndrome patients will never find out that they have abnormalities in their lifetime, which shows that this is not a disease that seriously affects individuals and families like Down syndrome, so there is indeed room for consideration whether to keep the child.

In addition to 47,XXY syndrome, more than 700 genes have been found to be related to autosomal dominant intellectual disability. Genome sequencing has found that attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder are also mainly related to genetics. Polycystic ovary syndrome, various chronic diseases, and tumors also have many closely related gene loci. If you worry about the probability of your child's health, there is actually no end.

Therefore, no matter what choice the parties involved in this incident made, they should not be blamed. They just made a difficult choice based on an uncertain risk.

Looking in the mirror of rumors

We often say "worthy of the name" and "justified by the name", but the consequences of the opposite are a bit serious. We often see that some professional concepts are often reported and become widely known because their "common names" can arouse rich associations and emotions among the audience and are more eye-catching.

However, names like "XX gene" and "super male syndrome" are more like "nicknames" that will focus people's attention in the wrong direction. The specific manifestation in this incident is the over-emphasis on the importance and decisiveness of genetics, which led to the situation in this article where pregnant women sought help online and hundreds of thousands of people advised them to have an abortion. If we just call it "Jacobs syndrome", would it be better?

As ordinary netizens, we also need to reflect on this. When encountering such a situation, even if it is out of good intentions, as non-professionals who do not need to bear any consequences, is it appropriate to provide advice such as "abortion" to the person seeking help, which has serious consequences? Will it bring more pressure to the person involved?

references

[1] Re L ,Birkhoff M J . The 47,XYY syndrome, 50 years of certainties and doubts: A systematic review [J]. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 2015, 22 9-17.

[2] Bardsley MZ, Kowal K, Levy C, et al. 47,XYY syndrome: clinical phenotype and timing of ascertainment. J Pediatr. 2013;163(4):1085-1094. doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2013.05.037

[4] Jacobs PA, Brunton M, Melville MM, Brittain RP, McClemont WF. Aggressive behavior, mental sub-normality and the XYY male. Nature. 1965;208(5017):1351-1352. doi:10.1038/2081351a0

[5] Davis RJ, McGee BJ, Empson J, Engel E. XYY and crime. Lancet. 1970;2(7682):1086. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(70)90319-3

[7] Theilgaard A. Aggression and the XYY personality. Int J Law Psychiatry. 1983;6(3-4):413-421. doi:10.1016/0160-2527(83)90028-6

[8] Stochholm K, Bojesen A, Jensen AS, Juul S, Gravholt CH. Criminality in men with Klinefelter's syndrome and XYY syndrome: a cohort study. BMJ Open. 2012;2(1):e000650. Published 2012 Feb 22. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2011-000650

[10] Vissers LE, Gilissen C, Veltman JA. Genetic studies in intellectual disability and related disorders. Nat Rev Genet. 2016;17(1):9-18. doi:10.1038/nrg3999

[11] Smith AK, Mick E, Faraone SV. Advances in genetic studies of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2009;11(2):143-148. doi:10.1007/s11920-009-0022-0

[12] Bai D, Yip BHK, Windham GC, et al. Association of Genetic and Environmental Factors With Autism in a 5-Country Cohort. JAMA Psychiatry. 2019;76(10):1035-1043. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.1411

Planning and production

Author: Doctor Feidao Duanyu

Reviewer: Lan Yibing, deputy chief physician, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Zhejiang University School of Medicine

Planning丨Ding Zong

Editor: Ding Zong

Proofread by Xu Lai and Lin Lin

The cover image and the images in this article are from the copyright library

Light up "Watching"

Let’s gain knowledge together!

news

A fetus found to have "super male syndrome" needs to be aborted, otherwise it will become a criminal when it grows up?

Introduction

my contact information