Is Dressing Hereditary?

[Michelle03]

Im asking this because I want other opinions. I have found womens clothes, shoes, jewelery, makeup forms, etc. in my Father's car and house. I also was told by my aunt (fathers sister) my grandfather's (their father) wife left him because of cd'ing. I have felt the urge as far back as I can remember I know for sure I was doing it before the age of 10. My family has never talked about it and im not sure if i even want to. I was wondering if anyone else has had any other encounters like this. I really dont know if I just like dressing or if I want to be a woman. I struggle with sexuality and Identity. I try to push the urges away but they become all i can think about until im completely consumed in it. I do have a wife who is supportive and very accepting more than any person should ever be but she can offer very little advice on the battles I fight within myself. I always wonder if my thoughts are some kind of a disease? I am a professional and high up the ladder in the company I work for in a small Industry so I cant let anyone find out. It just gets tough for me sometimes when I cant find answers.

[Maria in heels]

Well, you can always talk with your father now.....I know that it may be uncomfortable, but it will be better and just might answer a lot of questions

[MarciManseau]

From all I've read, it's not inherited. I'm no expert tho, and I think I've seen other threads here about this topic, so you might want to look at those too.

[Cynthia Anne]

I have never heard of 'it' being hereditary! But who knows! After all we all take after our parents and our grandparents in some fashion or another!

[Michelle03]

I dont know how to talk to my father about that. We never talk about personal things at all. Its hard for me to swallow that myself, father, and grandfather all have the same feelings and it just being a coincidence.

[beth_30]

I've had similar thoughts about whether CDing is hereditary. I discovered my brother trying on some of our sister's clothes once - I knew better than to tease him about it - and I found some evidence which suggests my father was into it, and he's often make 'comedy' comments about going to a local well-known CDing club.

There was an earlier thread last week positing a link with hormones during pregancy which might suggest a possible genetic link.

Sometimes I really want to know why. I've had to live with the guilt of deceving all the people I've loved all my life and I think part of it stems from this. I;m glad your wife knows - it's good you can have someone to lean on in the real world.

You seem rather lost and I hope here you can find some guidance - from people more in the know than me ;)

(btw your picture looks great I really like your hair :) )

[Jannine]

Hi Michelle,

I had a great reply to this question for you but when I hit send it went straight into cyberspace. I had been logged out by the grinch. I will send a pm. to you later. I have some good thought on this subject.

In the meantime, here is something else from one of my posts:

"That is your little genetic switch inside you (and inside all of us here), that probably does much to prevent us from being a molester or a rapist or a pervert of some kind, who in todays society creates much violence against women, which we all detest and aborrh.
So very much I feel for the women of the world subject to male violence, and that kind of makes me feel embarrased and ashamed to be male at times. We are gentle people, we who prefer to dress as women, and we place them on a pedestal, and want to emulate them in many ways and to many varying degrees, for they are life givers...
These thoughts and more are finally dawning on me...as to the why and the wherefore about why I do what I do. I just KNOW it is not wrong."

Think about this and how it relates to you.

Jannine. X

[rachaelsloane]

Michelle,
I do not think it can be an inherited trait. I could be that at some point when you were young you saw or heard your father and had a desire to try it. Pushing away these urges do not work as we all know. That you have a supportive wife is a blessing that few of us share. The bottom line is how you feel and are able to share those feelings with your wife.
The Best,
Rachael

[laura.lapinski]

Most people here think it is not inherited, but I would bet that it is or can be. Of course, there are other factors, but I would bet genetics is one of them.

[Kate Simmons]

My only answer to your question is that if it is in your personal grid program to CD, you will do it. If it is not, you won't.:)

[NicoleScott]

It may be heredity. My mom wore women's clothing, and now my sister does, too.
Seriously, there's no evidence. Since there are so many crossdressers, there must be multiple crossdressers in a family, but that doesn't prove anything.

[Tina B.]

How can you say if it is or isn't, when nobody has ever figured out what the cause is to begin with? Until we have a definite cause, and know that is how it started for everyone, then it's all just a guessing game, and your theory is as good as the next. But to the best of my knowledge neither my father or brothers have been crossdressers. I did have one grandfather that was an entertainer, and I have a picture of him in a dress. I also have one of him pretending to be a drunk, and sorry to say, even one of him in black face, it was the thirty's, what can I say. Other than that one picture, I've heard nothing else.
Tina B.

[sissystephanie]

Denise probably gave you the best response!! Crossdressing is a mental thing, and is different in everyone of us. I sincerely doubt that it is in any way hereditary!!

[Jamie14]

Checked my dad's closet and any possible hiding places. Nothing. Checked grandpop's prior to tht, nothing there. Heard my great-grandpop had some issues, makes me wonder........

[vivian fair]

I firmly believe that this is an heredity issue. So many times there are cases we know of that our male family members do crossdress or suspicion,with good reason,that they do so. But due to my long life I know it can be hidden and quite well. I had been married for 30 yrs.,with frequent crossdressing. often in the wifes clothes with out her knowing it. Finly I told her. Spent 24 years in the navy during this time and no one knew. So I apply that to present day when I have discovered others that I never suspected. So thats how easy it is to keep it hidden ,especially prior to the internet. And once exposed to femme garments how many male can just walk away. None of us it seems. I know from what I feel was my first time to be exposed I never got it out of my mind. I know my paternal GF did,and I really suspect thats why my dad worked away from home most of the time. Of course there were a few other things also I can remember. vf

[PretzelGirl]

This is one of those things that there probably hasn't been a study and we won't know for ages. But anything can show up in a family multiple times, it is just a matter of how rare it is. If 1% of men crossdress, then a lousy use of statistics would say one in one hundred families with multiple sons have multiple crossdressers (I know, lousy stats but just showing a point).

It reminds me of an old saying. Sex is hereditary. If your parents didn't have any, you aren't likely to either.

[Kathi Lake]

Good Lord, I hope not!!

Am I ashamed or embarrassed at what I do? Heck no! However, in my past, crossdressing has caused my wife and I a lot of pain. If I can do anything for my children, I will spare them all of the pain I can.

Kathi

[Daintre]

I don't think it is hereditary. My father and my grandfathers were most definitely guys, at home in jeans and sweats. I think it is more to do with opportunity. I have 4 sisters so I had great opportunity to wear what ever I wanted. Now my son has taken after me and I think it is because he saw all the closets of ladies wear and drawers of lingerie that I have. When I was at work he could check out dad's stuff and try and see why his dad is so into dresses. Liked it so much that he wanted to do it also.

[sandra-leigh]

Most people here think it is not inherited, but I would bet that it is or can be. Of course, there are other factors, but I would bet genetics is one of them.

I agree that chances are there is a genetic component for some of the people. For example, post #24 in this thread (http://www.lauras-playground.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=13393&st=20) on Laura's Playground points to an article that suggests some forms of transsexual are intersex conditions. some of the intersex conditions are known to be hereditary.

Last year, one of my relatives posted a picture from the 1960's of a great-uncle of mine entertaining at a family party wearing a dress; I casually asked about it and was told that Yes, he had done so several times, amongst other comedic things he had done. But if I remember the picture correctly, the dress obviously wasn't his wife's size...

[sterling12]

So far there is no reputable Scientific Study that has found A Genetic Link. Course' that doesn't mean that they won't find one in The future, but they probably would give such a Search a low priority. I think they are primarily going to be concerned about diseases that have a high mortality quotient. I think they might eventually get to us, and there would be a lot of accolades for The Researcher; but for right now, just try getting Grant Money to do research on a transgendered gene! I think you all get The Idea.

But, we sure do have lots, and lots, and lots of people around here that can give anecdotal evidence. For the time being, lets just say The Mystery is unsolved. In your particular case, Yeah! Looks like you may have a very good hunch about your Dad and Grandpa. What particular good that's going to do for you? I can't even imagine that it would be of much help.

Peace and Love, Joanie

[GeorgieMacD]

I don't know if it's a genetically inherited trait in my case but the environment I grew up in surely affected me. I've had a chicken/egg thought about all this. My maternal grandfather was a crossdresser. My father was too. And I recently learned that my brother is as well. Considering my mother's apparent exposure if not participation it's interesting to reflect back to all the things in my past environment that made me who I am today. I grew up with a time and heritage where boys wore dresses in their early years. Both my mother and my maternal grandmother helped me dress up on occasion through my youth. I can't help wondering if it could be genetic considering my grandfather and father both contributed DNA. Mysteries of the universe.

[suit]

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/genes/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/gender/
http://www.pbs.org/search/redir/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/evolution/dna-human-evolution.html
http://www.pbs.org/search/redir/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/teachers/body/epigenetics.html

the amount of information at NOVA show is amazing
loads if "so thats whats going on ! " moments
they spend over a million $ a copy to make the shows and some take over a year to make

[BRANDYJ]

I lost my dad when I was only 10. But the memory if him and his father tells me that neither of them had a feminine fiber in them. I have 3 brothers and no doubt that they too have no crossdressing interest in them. So if it was heredity, it sure passed them by. No it is no more inherited then our interests in anything else that makes us different from our siblings and parents. does it have something to do with hormones while in the womb? Maybe and I think it may for many of us. But that did not happen to our fathers or siblings. I think it is various things that happen to us as we begin our socializing and learning about life before, during and after puberty.

[Krista M]

Good Lord, I hope not!!

Am I ashamed or embarrassed at what I do? Heck no! However, in my past, crossdressing has caused my wife and I a lot of pain. If I can do anything for my children, I will spare them all of the pain I can.

Kathi


My thoughts exactly, I feel the same way.
Hang in there Michelle, you will find yourself some day.

[Sue101]

No it is psychological. If it were hereditory then there would be a clear obvious trend that would have been identified a long time ago. Statistically you are going to find occurances of father and son crossdressing, it is nothing more than a coincidence unless of course the father introduced his son to the behavior and it clicked but that would make it a learned behavior.

[Vickie_CDTV]

Both sides of my family seem pretty "normal" in the sex and gender department. As far as I know, none are or were suspected of being TV or TS (I have asked around, in a roundabout way), and the only gay family member is a cousin who is suspected to be a closet lesbian (and even that has not been proven.)

Sadly, abuse (everything but sexual abuse) and mental illness run deep on both sides of the family. If I were to have children (unlikely it would ever happen), I worry I may influence them to dress. But genetically I would be far more concerned about passing on serious mental health issues that some think may have a genetic component.

Interestingly, I read a study years ago about the prevalence of TVism in terms of birth order and such. They said that those who are only children have a far greater incidence of transvestism than children who grow up with siblings. (I was an only, something that was very rare in the era I grew up in.)

[Samantha B L]

No there isn't any evidence just yet but there are a lot of psychiatrists and psychologists and researchers who seem to think crossdressing and other LGBT issues are either inherited or in part have an inherited factor. Research into this goes back many years. The idea is it's somehow hormonal or neurological in nature and may just possibly run in families. My uncle who passed away 5 years ago put on a drag show for his lodge brothers once a year and I have several cousins who are gay or lesbian. Unfortunately,you still find some mental health professionals who think crossdressing is sick. They won't hesitate to use very crude makeshift tactics to try and muscle you out of it. There isn't any definative proof just yet about the "inherited factor" but it does take away a lot of the blame that there is something sinister and perverted about TG/TS/CD people and makes things a lot simpler,maybe even helping pave the way towards tolerance.

[JenniferR771]

Hereditary? I think not. Sue 101 makes a good point. One thing is clear homosexuality is not hereditary--those with the trait seldom reproduce. The gene would disappear in one generation. TS also have a low rate of reproduction--at least that is my guess. As for CDs, not so obvious. As a whole population--do cds have a lower rate of reproduction? Fewer marriages and children? Not sure--what do you think?

[sandra-leigh]

No it is psychological. If it were hereditory then there would be a clear obvious trend that would have been identified a long time ago.

What you say is not sound science. How long has the subject been actively studied? How likely are people to be hide their dressing?

I recall that last year a disease (common enough to have public name recognition) of unknown origin was finally characterized after some decades of active study, something like 17 genes were found to be linked to it, and 3 of those genes were already known to be heritable. Is it then a "hereditary disease" ? Well, the gene linkages occurred in clusters, and so for most of the identified cases there was no known hereditary link, but the disease was shown to be hereditary in at least some cases.

There are hereditary conditions that do not always express themselves. One might carry a gene, but it might depend upon circumstances for it to activate. To make up an example: there could be a condition that does not activate unless you contract the measles and later get exposed to particulate asbestos. Disease genes that do not usually incapacitate the carrier are more likely to be passed on to future generations.

[Shelly Preston]

It may be heridetary I am not so much thinking about father to son but that is still possible

Our genetic make up will be a combination of what we inherit from our parents and grandparents

This could mean that some small part of us is why we have a need to dress or even why some of us are actually female.

This is why some are TS and some CD

I dont think there is a simple answer to this question

[sometimes_miss]

Temperment can be hereditary, and of course behavior and lifestyles can easily be passed on through the family from generation to generation. So I guess you could make a strong case that a predisposition for crossdressing could be passed on. I don't think it's always 100% genetic, though.