Gender

CHICAGO - A small but growing number of teens and even younger children who think they were born the wrong sex are getting sex-changing treatments, according to reports in the medical journal Pediatrics. It's an issue that raises ethical questions, and some experts urge caution in treating children with puberty-blocking drugs and hormones. An 8-year-old second-grader in Los Angeles is a typical patient. Born a girl, the child announced at 18 months, "I a boy" and has stuck with that belief.

A newborn baby was found in a box shortly after 10 this morning in North Philadelphia. The infant, who was in good condition, was taken to St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, police said. The infant was found in the 2500 block of North 27th Street. As other details, such as the child's gender, become available, this article will be updated.

CHICAGO - Boy or girl? A simple blood test for mothers-to-be can answer that question with surprising accuracy at about seven weeks, a research analysis published in today's Journal of the American Medical Association has found. Though not widely offered by U.S. doctors, gender-detecting blood tests have been sold online to consumers for the past few years. Their promises of early and accurate results prompted genetics researchers to take a closer look. They analyzed 57 published studies of gender-testing done in rigorous research or academic settings.

The war between the sexes is an ancient theme, but the battle keeps going on - at least in the minds of theater artists, who mine it in plots and subplots. In the case of Robert Dubac, an altogether charming guy who is holding forth this month at Act II Playhouse in Ambler, it's a one-act, one-man exploration. He calls the show The Male Intellect: An Oxymoron? , and on the way to the theater I thought, nuts, are we going to be getting into more gender bashing, this time against guys, by a guy?

Question: I am six months pregnant with my first child and I desperately want a girl. I'm not sure why, exactly - I have great relationships with my father/brothers/nephews/husband - but the desire is so strong I'm a little concerned. I've insisted on not finding out the baby's gender. I'm claiming I want to be surprised, but really it's because I'll be devastated if it's a boy. If it is a boy, how do I handle the disappointment and avoid being unfair to an innocent little baby?

At a park in Lianyungang, a port city in China, journalist Mara Hvistendahl saw the problem in all its smiling, sticky-fingered happiness: Near an ice-cream stand, feeding the pigeons, were seven boys and five girls. Romping on an inflatable play castle, six boys and only three girls. Across the way, chasing kites, three boys and two girls. The same pattern exists in cities across eastern China - and not just there. In India and Vietnam, in Azerbaijan, the Republic of Georgia, and Albania, the birth ratio between girls and boys has swung seriously out of whack.

Chaz Bono has been all over television and radio lately, hawking his newbook, Transition: The Story of How I Became a Man, to fawning talk-show hosts and admiring audiences. So his appearance Saturday at the 10th annual Trans Gender Health Conference should have been a love fest, right? The three-day event is the largest of its kind in the world, said sponsors at the LGBT-friendly Mazzoni Center on South 12th Street. A record 1,900 came this year: adults, teens, and a smattering of children as young as 4, all in various stages of gender transformation (yes, the children, too)

WASHINGTON - Women still outlive men, but the gender gap among U.S. seniors is narrowing. New 2010 census figures, released Thursday, show that men are reducing women's population advantage, primarily in the 65-plus age group. It's a change in the social dynamics of a country in which longevity, widowhood, and health care for seniors have often been seen as issues more important to women. In all, the numbers highlight a nation that is rapidly aging even as Congress debates cuts in Medicare, an issue with ramifications for the growing ranks of older men as well as women.

The University of Delaware's decision to eliminate varsity men's cross country and track and field is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Education. The university announced the decision in January, saying it was trying to comply with Title IX gender-equity requirements when it dropped the teams. Team members filed a gender-discrimination complaint with the Education Department. School spokesman John Brennan says Delaware stands by its decision. The school said late last month it is "complying fully with a request" for information regarding its intercollegiate athletics program.

Inspire spontaneous theatrical ensemble Tongue & Groove in their improv production "Impulse" by anonymously and honestly answering questions about your deepest desires and transitional life moments. The critically acclaimed ensemble will turn audience responses into a theatrical collage of monologues and scenes comical and touching, as well as live paintings that explore relationships and the forces that drive humanity. Rendell Room, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, 300 S. Broad St., 9 tonight, $10. Don't miss the final performances of "Proliferation of the Imagination," a gender-bending clash of ballet, original music and theater.