Development
Eight weeks after fertilization, the foreskin begins to grow over the head of the penis, covering it completely by 16 weeks. At this stage, the foreskin and glans share an epithelium (mucous layer) that fuses the two together. It remains this way until the foreskin separates from the glans.
At birth, the foreskin is often still fused with the glans. As childhood progresses the foreskin and the glans gradually separate, a process that may not be complete until late puberty. Thorvaldsen and Meyhoff (2005) reported that 21% of 7-year-old boys had non-retractable foreskins, and this number dropped to 7% at puberty, with first retraction at an average age of 10.4 years. Wright (1994) argues that forcible retraction of the foreskin should be avoided and that the child himself should be the first one to retract his own foreskin. Attempts to forcibly retract it can be painful and may injure the foreskin.
In children, the foreskin usually covers the glans completely but in adults, this need not be so. Schöberlein (1966) found that about 50% of young men had full coverage of the glans, 42% had partial coverage, and, in the remaining 8%, the glans was uncovered. After adjusting for circumcision, he stated that, in 4% of the young men, the foreskin had spontaneously atrophied (shrunk). There is considerable variation in the degree to which the foreskin retracts during erection; in some adults the foreskin remains covering the glans until retracted by sexual activity.
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