The difference between a CD and a TS

[PaulaQ]

Really? I thoink a lot of people go a long time with out making a distinction as to their gender

What makes you say that? If nothing else, social pressure to be one or the other used to be fairly intense. I can't say what that's like now, for kids in school, but when I was in school, there was a lot of pressure about this - it was conflated with sexual orientation, of course.

But hey look - I'm not cis. Maybe if your gender and assigned at birth sex line up, you don't ever think about this. I suspect though that some people do, some don't. I'd think most do, to some limited extent that it happens implicitly in their minds. I can totally believe that for some it's stronger than others. But I really have no way to know. I do note that it's rare, outside of the TG community, to see people alternate gender presentations on a regular basis. We don't really know how much of all this is learned, and how much of it is instinctual. I suspect it's some of both, with the bulk of it being learned.

I did something wrong here I did all of them at virtually the same time (exc surgery).

There's no right or wrong in general, just what's right or wrong for an individual, in my opinion. I didn't mean to write a prescription - just sort of listed some of the general things trans people do. I'm sorry if it came across as implying someone did it wrong. I don't really think "wrong" is an option unless a person is one of the rather rare cases where someone transitions, and then feels much worse dysphoria after.

When I started estrogen, I didn't notice any real behavioral changes. I joke about the drop in levels if I miss a dose or at the end of the cycle, but other than physical changes I am still pretty much as I was. Why because I was a woman in my mind, the hormones are just tools. Maybe I am the odd one here.

No, you are not the odd one here. Both outcomes are commonly reported. Yours is probably the more common one. I have no idea why such a difference exists. I don't think it's significant to the issue of "is or isn't" someone TS. I think the only really significant issue is if cross-sex hormones actually increase your dysphoria, you may not be TS. But look, there are a number of pretty complex things at play here that aren't well understood, so I wouldn't bet the farm on any of this.

The medical community didn't abandon us, it was just that strokes and seizures and aberrant behaviors are far more common. ... But consider this, IF they did find a physical reason (i.e. brain structure) that showed that "we" had brains like a genetic woman...so what? Does that mean every TS needs that to qualify?

I'm sorry, but we'll have to agree to disagree on this first point - it isn't so much about brain scans. But the medical community at large has turned its back on the trans community for decades. There are exceptions, and I have no doubt some places are better than others, and it's improving - for example Children's Medical here in Dallas now has a treatment program for transgender youth.

I did say that even if they did discover relatively reliable ways to differentiate what was going on in our brains, it would certainly take me a long time to trust the medical establishment again. The main use of such a test would be for children who are showing signs of transsexualism, so that skeptical parents would be more likely to allow treatment.

Ultimately, though, the individual should be able to define themselves. I'd simply like to see better methods to help guide people to the best medical care for their specific issues. For example, I have some questions whether treatments developed for TS individuals are always the best choice for people who are, for example, gender queer. Keep in mind when this stuff was developed, a trans woman was expected to be:
- hyper feminine
- straight
- fairly passable to begin with
None of those are even remotely required anymore, nor should they be. But that was the starting point for a lot of this stuff - a very binary view of gender.

I don't want to deny anyone access to anything, nor be a gate keeper. I just hate to think of people trying all sorts of things in order to feel better, failing to feel better, and really having nothing to help them make any kind of an informed decision along the way, particularly if their sense of gender doesn't happen to be extremely strong in one direction or the other.

Anyway, my apologies if any of this, or any of the prior stuff in the thread came across as argumentative. That wasn't my intention at all.

And what's the difference with someone who is TS? A TS is always the right mind gender in the wrong physical gender. I see them as binary as the cis-world, just in that conflicting way.

It's really a spectrum with us, too. There are some of us with really strong gender identities. There are some of us with fairly weak gender identities. I guess the difference is for a TS our gender dysphoria is serious enough that we have to do something about it, while a CD really doesn't, other than present in a cross gender manner periodically.