Ever heard of THREE in the same family?

[Sandy2012]

Hi,

Post-op 10 months now..  Bowers/San Mateo.. 

Earlier this year I was informed that one of my first cousins has a post-op FTM son..  He also went to Bowers in San Mateo.  I do not know if he has had bottom surgery yet or not but I would assume so, I don't think one would travel that far and spend that much money with Bowers just for top surgery.  I haven't met him yet because of distances involved.

Then the other day another of my first cousins contacted me, I haven't heard from her in over 40 years.. She tells me she too as an FTM son.   

He hasn't started transition yet and hasn't officially come out to his mom or anyone else that she knows of, yet.
My cousin knows for certain that this is where he is headed, all the signs are there and her son is struggling hard with these issues.  Don't we all?

Her and I are going to begin phone conversations because she needs to talk to someone that's been there, done that.
I'm MTF so I have different views than he will have but I believe that the basics are similar enough that I can offer my cousin some advice on how to deal with her son and how to approach him and start a line of communication between the two of them.

I'm sure that he is at the same place I once was.  I was afraid to come out, I was afraid to strike up the conversation and I was just dying for someone to ask me "Hey, are you bla bla bla??" to which I would have gladly replied, "Yes, yes, yes!" with great relief.  I was scared and ashamed so I just hid it as long as I could.

Her son has been dropping BIG hints and she figured it out herself, she said she has no doubts and that she loves her son and wants to help him to find peace and happiness. 

But anyway, what I'm really here to talk about is how can it be that there are three of us in the same family??   

I have heard of rare cases where there are two in the same family but never three..
My cousin has tried to research this and she said that she can find nothing either, she said the closest thing is where several people in a family have some sort of physical thing going on and they refer to it as cluster phenomenon.  Or something like that..

Where would one even start, like what key words or websites would one use to find out about this very rare and unusual situation?
I think it would be interesting if the three of us had DNA testing done to see if they can find a certain gene going on here..  I know it wouldn't change anything but it would answer a lot of questions..
One thing I can say about this, being that there are three of us, at least for me, I feel a lot less alone in this world than before and a lot less shame.  Our greater family is cool with all this and supportive so it's all good anyway..  I personally feel a little empowered by the situation..

In my opinion, this can not be anything else except genetics at play.  I am 100% certain that the 2008 discovery of a TG gene is completely legit and real and it seems to be strong in my family..

How trippy is that?? 

Namaste..  _/|\_

[Felix]

That's kind of an extended family, though, right?

Idk. I'm sure there are probably genetic factors. I clicked on this because my half-sister is MtF, which seems just weirdly unlikely (statistically) and almost feels like a challenge to the authenticity of my own gender. I look forward to medical science getting a better handle on this.

[Anatta]

Kia Ora Sandy,

Have you read this :

http://www.gendersanctuary.com/pdf/xdress/familycooccurance.pdf

Metta Zenda

[Emily Ray]

This is getting distant, but I have a third cousin that is an FTM. I personaly believe that there must be some genetic reason for it, I would like to know more about it though.

Huggs

Emily

[Lily]

I have a cousin who is MTF, although we are not biologically related.

[Sandy2012]

That's kind of an extended family, though, right?

Idk. I'm sure there are probably genetic factors. I clicked on this because my half-sister is MtF, which seems just weirdly unlikely (statistically) and almost feels like a challenge to the authenticity of my own gender. I look forward to medical science getting a better handle on this.

This is all on my dad's side of the family.

Dad had three sisters and two brothers, all from the same mother and father.

His oldest sister (now passed on) had two daughters.  Her youngest daughter which is my first cousin, gave birth to a natal female.  This child recently had FTM surgery by Bowers in San Mateo.
As to the males, there were three.  Brother 1, my dad being the youngest, brother 2, the middle brother and brother 3 the oldest.  Both brothers are now passed on leaving my dad as the sole surviving male.
Brother 2, the middle brother fathered a normal, natal female who is also my first cousin.  She is also almost the exact same age as me, just a few months younger.. 
She gave birth to a natal female who is now about college age but has not transitioned yet but is seeking to transition -> FTM..

So the other two T's in the family are children of my first cousins on my dad's side.  As to myself, I had MTF GRS by Bowers in San Mateo earlier this year.

So yeah, there's definitely something going on there for there to be three of us in the same family...   

Oh, and I want to also add, after having read that PDF, (thank you!) that none of the three of us have ever met one another, yet.  None of us even knew that the others even existed.  Over the years our family has moved apart and lost touch with each other.  One cousin, the mother of the yet to transition FTM lives 3,000 miles away and I have not seen her in over 40 years or had any contact with her in that long.  I had honestly forgotten that she even existed.  We just reconnected a few days ago when my mom passed away and phones started ringing.

The cousin who is mother to the post-op FTM, she and her son live a few hundred miles away and I have not seen or had contact with that cousin in well over 20 years.

Her son has been out to the family for about 2 years now.  I only just came out to the greater family a month ago when my mom passed away. I had been intentionally dodging the rest of the family and my parents had covered for me when questions were asked as to my well being.  But when Mom died, there was no way to hide anymore.  Surprise!  Everyone found out at once.  It was NOT the way I had planned it.
But it was a total "ho-hum" event because of the FTM already having come out to everyone.  I feared rejection but everyone was like "Oh hey, it's good to see you again, we've missed you, welcome back to the family." and that was all there was to it.   

My cousin wants to talk with me, she needs advice on how to deal with her FTM son who is still in the closet.  She loves him and wants only for him to be happy and free from suffering and is anxious to get everything out into the fresh air so they can begin her transition so he can have a shot at a normal, happy, well balanced life...

This whole thing just flips me out..  I think that once the three of us all get together we will all find a new level of self confidence and strength.  And I know that this will bring our family closer once again...  It's long overdue.  Nothing to hide anymore.. 

[anibioman]

i have a gay uncle and a bi aunt but ah thats weird that there are multiple ftms in your family there are a bunch of ftms in my school there are more out ftms then lesbians or gays wich isnt the norm.

[sneakersjay]

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/identical-twin-boys-transgender-brother-sister/story?id=15142268

About family dealing with this.

Also:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/26872503

[Padma]

Me, my brother, and my half-sister (all with the same homophobic father) are all bisexual - and my half-sister is definitely strongly genderqueer, though I doubt she'd transition. We have kinky blood .

[Keaira]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/823136.stm

The pads of the fingers, handwriting and the number of aunts may all offer clues to identifying a transsexual, says an expert.
Professor Richard Green, visiting professor of psychiatry at Imperial College, London, says that recent studies have shown that transsexual men and women tend to be left-handed had distinctive ridged finger prints and lots of maternal aunts.

Professor Green, who was speaking at the Royal College of Psychiatrists annual meeting in Edinburgh, and his colleagues studied 400 males and 100 female transsexuals who attended the Gender Identity Clinic at Charing Cross Hospital, London, over a four year period.

Do you or did you have a lot of aunts? I do and I am also left handed.

However, I beleive I am the only one in my family to come out and transition. I dont even know if anyone in my family is gay. I may just ask my Aunt about that. ^_^

And here:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10623499

[kesenaie]

I'm the fourth in my family, one of which is extended family. He never dared to switch and unfortunately passed away. One is post-op, one is doing hrt.

[Carolina1983]

I have alot of aunts, are left handed and have 2 older brothers that are in their 40s now. Interesting!

[Mahsa Tezani]

I am not really mtf identified as much as I am gay male.

Yeah, and I am the only one either way in my family.

[Padma]

Left-handed, 2 aunts. I don't know my half-sister's other family, so I don't know if she has more than the 2 aunts I have, but I think she's a southpaw too .

[justmeinoz]

I just have to look at the picture of my son on the mantle.  He has been living as a man for several years now and watching him transition led to one of the triggers for my own decision.

No other family members either side who are TS or Intersex, but several on his mother's side who are gay or lesbian, including his mother.  Normal families are so overrated. 

Karen.

[Padma]

Normal is a minority group .

[Bishounen]

It might be Genetic. Although the results regarding the FTM's in the following Study apparently were non-revealing. Yet, it is worth bringing up:

Gene linked to Transsexualism

'SYDNEY: The first genetic link to male-to-female transsexualism provides new evidence of its biological nature, say Australian researchers. "There is a social stigma that transsexualism is simply a lifestyle choice, however our findings support a biological basis of how gender identity develops," said Vincent Harley a geneticist from Prince Henry's Institute in Melbourne and co-author of a new study detailing the find.
Gender identity
Gender identity, an inner feeling of being male or female, is usually identified at an early age. Transsexuals, however, identify with the sex that is opposite to their biological sex.
Early theories as to the cause of transsexuality suggested that it could stem from childhood trauma, but more recent research has pointed to family history and a possible genetic aspect. A study released earlier this year by researchers at the University of Vienna, Austria, hinted at a gene that may be involved in female-to-male transsexualism.
The new study, published today in the journal Biological Psychiatry, builds on previous research that highlighted some similarities in the brain structures of women and male-to-female transsexuals.
For the study, Harley and his team took DNA from 112 male-to-female transsexuals and 258 non-transsexual men. They looked at the sequence of three genes known to be involved in the action of sex hormones, and found that some male-to-female transsexuals carry a different form of a gene, called an androgen receptor, which modifies the body's response to testosterone.
Androgen receptor
The researchers found that, on average, the form of the gene found in the transsexual group had a larger number of repeats of a short, repetitive sequence of DNA - making the gene significantly longer than the form found in the control group of non-transsexual men.
Though the researchers admit that the average difference in the length of the gene between the two groups was small, they said that the size of the study population was limited by the rarity of transsexualism. Nevertheless, "we think that these genetic differences might reduce testosterone action and under-masculinise the brain during foetal development," said co-author Lauren Hare, a geneticist from Monash University in Melbourne.

Link: http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/2275/gene-linked-transsexuality?page=0%2C0

[Sad Girl]

I know a family where there are 5 people and 3 out of them are. 2 lesbians (1 transitioned officially to male, the other one live like female) and the 3rd one is a mtf trans who is my friend and they have another sister who is a normal straight girl and another brother who is a straight guy.

[Felix]

I am not really mtf identified as much as I am gay male.

Yeah, and I am the only one either way in my family.

Mahsa, is that working okay for you?

[Keaira]

I asked my Aunt Adele earlier yesterday if we even had any gay family members. And amazingly we dont and as far as she knows, we've never had any. No other gay,lesbian or bisexual or transgender family members at all. So I guess that makes me a very big anomaly in the family tree. I found this bit of information to be very interesting. So I need to look to my Mother's side and see what's on that side. I have a feeling that it too will turn up blank.