linguistic:translation, structural:scholar_edition
Gestation

By eleven and twelve weeks of gestation, the process of preputial formation is evident as a thickening of the epidermis that separates from the penis creating a raised fold, known as the preputial fold. On the underside of this structure forms the preputial lamina, which expands dorsolaterally over the base of the developing glans. At thirteen weeks, the prepuce has not yet extended to the distal tip of the glans covering only a part of its surface. By sixteen weeks, the bilateral preputial folds cover most of the glans and the ventral sides of the prepuce fuse in the midline. The penile raphe, the continuation of the perineal raphe in human males, occurs on the ventral side of the penis as a manifestation of the fusion of the urethral and preputial folds. The dorsal nerve of the penis, which is present as early as nine weeks of gestation, completely expands through branches to the distal end of the glans and prepuce by sixteen weeks. At nineteen weeks, foreskin development is complete. Towards the end of the second trimester, the glans and the prepuce have completely fused together by the preputial, sometimes referred to as balanopreputial lamina. At birth, this shared membrane is physiologically adherent to the glans preventing retraction in infancy and early childhood. The phenomenon of non-retractile foreskin in children naturally starts to resolve in varying ages; in childhood, preadolescence or puberty.