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Kim E
11-29-2005, 04:16 PM
Sorry I lost the news link to this article.

What are your thoughts on this ?

Kim


Biologically wired to be transsexual

BY S.S. YOGA

PETALING JAYA: There have been medical studies done which show that one of the reasons for someone being transsexual is biological and there are tests that can be done to determine that.

This was disclosed by consultant clinical andrologist Dr Mohd Ismail Mohd Tambi who also provides counselling to individuals with issues concerning sexual identity at his clinic.

He said that in studies done by endocrinologist Prof L.J.G. Gooren who is an expert in Gender Studies and Gender Reassignment Programmes at Vrije University in Amsterdam, Netherlands, magnetic resonance imaging scans of the brain showed differences between men and transsexuals.

“Scan of the hypothalamus (the region at the base of the brain of which a part is involved in sexual behaviours) show that a part of it is bigger in males by 44% than in females. But for a transsexual male the scan will reveal that it follows the size of a female's. The reverse is true for transsexual females.”

Other scientists have authenticated the study internationally, he told The Star.

Dr Mohd Ismail said that Prof Gooren’s study also showed that the process of sexual orientation (one's realisation of one's gender) was complex and the physical changes were usually early and the mental changes usually came later.

It was usually during adolescence that transsexuals would want to be close to the gender of their choice, he said.

“They do not decide on their gender overnight. The process is complicated and dynamic. It is influenced by the sex determinant genes, testosterones and hormones, environmental factors and the mental changes in the hypothalamus,” said Dr Mohd Ismail.

He said he had spent two weeks at the Gender Clinic of the Free University in Amsterdam in 2001, where he learnt of the studies by Prof Gooren.

The studies also said there was a possibility that one in every 15,000 males and one in every 35,000 females were transsexual.

Dr Mohd Ismail cited his own paper which he presented four years ago at a local counselling seminar in which he said that counselling was a must as there were many individuals who were confused about their sexual identity and might not actually be transsexuals.

He added that if they were transsexuals they needed to be provided with avenues to be reassigned in terms of gender according to the laws of the country.

MandyTS
11-29-2005, 06:13 PM
I have known about this link for a few years. The paper that originally discovered this came out in I believe 1997 or so. The area of the hypothalimous is just one of the sites where gender is found but it seems to be the one with the most interest. I post this about myself a week or so ago.


The hypothalimus is a structure in the brain that acts as a control center for different functions. Mine is faulity, I can not smell, etc. It is therorized that on the hypothalimus a section known as the stria terminalis is responsable for gender, another section is proposed to to responsable for orientation (orientation to the other or same sex). Males and females have remarkably different amount of cells in this area.


The science community does not understand why these differences occur. I have heard speculation that in fact either there is a fault in the DNA structure (either a coding error or a mutation) or something wrong in the months body. The delivery of testosterone to the fetus is controlled by the futus itself and its construction map if you would. The part of the hypothalimous is probably just a marker of a female wiring in the brain.

It has also been perposed that your level of TG is based on lack of cells based on what is normal for a male XY individual.

The real question here is as I stated what causes this difference... I have my theories about myself, all are different. In time w might actually know... at least we know it is linked in the brain. In a way it is error, just like Kallmann's in my body.

Mandy

Marlena Dahlstrom
11-29-2005, 07:31 PM
The study, which you can read here (http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/full/85/5/2034) involved the brains of only a half-dozen TS and 34 other comparison subjects, so it's one of a number of those very suggestive, but not definitively conclusive studies.

That said, I do think it's probably there are biological roots for at least some of the folks on the TG spectrum, it's just that the issue hasn't been well studied enough to be definitive.

DonnaT
11-29-2005, 07:35 PM
I have always believed we are born transgendered. I would have only a problem with the studies if they were being used to refuse treatment to someone who believes themselves to be TS if they were tested for these physical differences.

MarieTS
11-29-2005, 08:08 PM
If this information can be confirmed and then reconfirmed by other valid and reliable studies, I would not be suprised that if some time in the future "The Standards of Care" are adjusted to require the MRI as a screening tool for SRS. Whether or not a positive result is required for the SRS will be open for debate. But I would think the medical community would like to be able to inform the patient as to where they stand in this regard, if only to protect themselves from litigation.

MandyTS
11-30-2005, 01:45 AM
The ramifications of finding a purly biological solution is great. It means that there may one day be medical coverage of SRS, and legal protections (like homosexuals have now).

Helana
11-30-2005, 04:07 AM
What is gender? How does genetics and hormones define gender? I ask because I always viewed people as a complex mix of behavioral patterns. Although some behaviors gravitate towards genetic males and females there has always been a large overlap. This is a natural occurance and does not need hormonal imbalances to produce it. Just because a man experiences thoughts and emotions which are in line with the traditional female role, that does not necessarily mean he will be a CD or TS.

As our society becomes increasingly liberal it is becoming increasingly obvious that neither gender nor sexual orientation is "fixed" at all. Bisexuality expecially among young women who are less homophobic is surprisingly common. Crossdressing by women is now a norm in our society although still outlawed in others. Gender and sexuality are notions which we can adapt and overcome if we are so inclined. Its just that most of us are not inclined.

This is hardly a new thing either. There are other societies such as the ancient Greeks or many Polynesian cultures whose practices fly in the face of gender and sexual orientation being fixed. There are tribes who initiate boys into manhood through sodomy, others who bring up their first male child as a woman.

If a society decided that men stay home and watch over babies while women went off hunting and fighting then people in that tribe would think that is the behavioral norm. Female Amazon warriors are not fiction, they did exist.

At best our brain structures make us inclined to lean one way or the other, so we have a predisposition to certain behavioural traits. I fully expect that science will confirm that different brain structures do result in different behaviours. That does not automatically mean CD or TS are created. Gender is not one specific behaviour that is found in one area of the brain and can be switched from male to female. Gender is defined as a collection of behavioural traits which are controlled in various points all over the brain.
Also people's behaviour are as much influenced and developed by environmnetal influences as by their initial brain makeup. There is no reason to exempt gender behavior from this equation. It is society which defines gender by imposing rigid boundaries on behaviour. Our genes and hormones are blind as to who wears skirts.

Kim E
12-03-2005, 11:02 AM
Thanks to all for your thoughts.

As an added note, I was talking to a TS girl from California, who mentioned she is taking part in a study of MtF TS's at the University of California Los Angeles. Dr Eric Vilain is conducting the study.

The purpose of the study is "to investigate the developmental root of one's gender identity. The project will study what neurological, cognitive, and genetic structures may influence this type (gender identity inconsistent with one's biological sex) of identity. The investigators will use the test results to study the mechanisms of gender identity."

The only requirement is that you be pre hormones or at least, be off hormones for a year. This is because part of the study involves doing the same test for pre and post op's.

The study includes verbal and written tests, saliva sample and an hour long MRI. The MRI analyzes the brain structure as well as the electrical activity of the brain.

If anyone is interested in being a volunteer, PM me, as I have the contact phone numbers.
She told me they paid $50 for being in the study and it took her about 4 hours, more or less, with an hour being spent on the MRI.

Hopefully, with the results of some current reliable studies like this, it will answer some questions we all have.

Kim

Deborah
12-09-2005, 04:03 AM
Wired to be transsexual? Damn and there i was thinking i had a female brain. ;)