Eileen- I thought your daughter sounded familiar, but I have met many parents since my son was born. I recall you writing on my old board years ago and, I believe through MAGIC. I have a son and this kind of portrayal bothers me. When I first seeked inforation on CAH at my frends computer on AOL(1995-96), some of these intersexed groups were not very kind in the way they were dealing with CAH parents. Here I was trying to find other parents so I would not feel so alone...I read from these groups instead! I htink if we, as parents, downplay the sexual aspect, our children will develop as any other child does. Anyway, I wrote them this morning. This is what I wrote. I encourage all of you to make your views known. I would really like to see this show edited before may. ___ ___ I am writing in response to your airing of the program, "Is it a boy or a girl?", which aired Sunday, March 26, 2000. While I do not object to the subject matter that was explored, I do take issue with the handling of the health condition known as Congenital adrenal hyperplasia. The program treated the condition as if it were a gender issue, and went so far as to say that these females need medication for one reason.....to supress the excess testosterone. And went on to say that 30% of these females will likely be homosexual. Let me set the record straight. Congenital adrenal hyperplasia is condition where the body does not produce the needed cortisol. Cortisol is what our bodys make and use in response to stresses, like fever, broken bones, etc. Without the proper amount, the person could have an adrenal crisis and DIE. This condition is often accompanied by the lack of producing another hormone which helps the body retain the needed salts. At least 60% of the states in our country test for this condition at birth because it can result in death within the first 2 weeks of life. The excessive testoserone results because the adrenal gland tries and tries to produce the cortisol. This overworking of the gland produces a by-product which converts to testosterone. With replacement medication....that is, if one takes the amount of medication that equals what the body would normally produce, testosterone levels become normal. Mothers who are aware that this condition is likely (it is hereditary) can take dexamethasone during pregnancy and their daughters will be born without the virilization. This type of replacement therapy is no different from any other condition where a gland does not work properly. As you can see, the largest issue with CAH is being healthy. Is is essention to have normal cortisol levels to live and respond to stresses to the body. My son nearly died at 10 days of age because of this condition. I am in contact daily via the internet with other parents of CAH children. The parents of girls (not all are born with enflamed genitals) do have issues about surgery if they deem in necesary. But by and large, we deal with health issues. Our children are born either 100% boys or 100% girls. The question of gender indentification is irrelevant. The degree of virilization varies. Some have severe and some have no virilization at all. The handling of this issue was nothing more that sensationalized journalism. There is a group , which the show highlighted, that seeks publicity from talk show to talk show. I can not disput how they feel, but your show lumped children with CAH under the same umbrella and omited vital information about the disorder. Rather than inform and possibly save lives, you showed anonymous parents and only dealt with one issue for CAH. You could have mentioned newborn screening for CAH, that vomitting in newborns is one sign to look for, that the excessive testosterone means that the child's health could be in serious danger. I would expect this type of sensationalism on syndicated talk shows, but I expect higher quality programing from Discovery Channel. I expect it to deal with hard science. I strongly suggest that you edit this program before the next airing to either provide accurate information about CAH, or remove all references to it.