Page "Adrenarche" Paragraph 4

Parents and many physicians often infer ( incorrectly ) the onset of puberty from the first appearance of pubic hair ( termed pubarche ).

However, the independence of adrenarche and gonadal puberty is apparent in children with atypical or abnormal development, when one process may occur without the other.

For instance, adrenarche does not occur in many girls with Addison's disease, who will continue to have minimal pubic hair as puberty progresses.

Conversely, girls with Turner syndrome will have normal adrenarche and normal pubic hair development, but true gonadal puberty never occurs because their ovaries are defective.