A Common Boy’s Congenital Birth Defect

Any congenital disorder present at the birth of a baby is a birth defect. These defects present at birth may be developmental, physical, or intellectual. There are two main types of birth defects. A structural defect is a problem with a body part’s shape. A functional defect is a problem with how a body’s part works. A birth defect can be both functional and structural.

Now, treatment of birth defects depends on the specific defect. The treatment of a birth defect may be medication, therapy, assistive technology, surgery, or a combination of any of these. Approximately three percent of newborns in the United States are born with birth defects every year. In 2015, there were 628,000 deaths in babies caused by birth defects.

Boys’ Hypospadias Birth Defect

Of 1,000 boys born in the United States every year, five are born with hypospadias, a common birth defect in boys. A baby with the hypospadias birth defect doesn’t have the opening of the urethra at the tip of the penis as it usually is. Instead, the urethra opening is located anywhere between the end of the penis to the scrotum of the penis.

The opening location of the urethra determines a …