Transgender siblings, how common is this?

[jussmoi4nao]

Because my sister is pretty much every bit as transgender as I am. She's told me so, she even considered transition, but decided against it. I've tried to convince her, but I guess if she can be happy as a lesbian that's good, I'm jealous. She's also very naturally masculine like I am feminine. Here's a picture actually, she's on the right, in leather (looking at her shoe, hard to see, but it's all I could find):



And we've both always known too. About ourselves, and even each other, somewhat. I remember being 8 and thinking if I only her and I could switch each others genders, life would make sense lol. And she says I used to make her use a female name for me mil,when I was like 6.

So is this weird?should we be studied lol?

[suzifrommd]

If you accept the 0.2% number, the chances of a two child family having two transgender kids would be about 1 in 250,000, meaning there would be hundreds of such pairs in the U.S.

[jussmoi4nao]

If you accept the 0.2% number, the chances of a two child family having two transgender kids would be about 1 in 250,000, meaning there would be hundreds of such pairs in the U.S.

But it's not the same statistical probability really is it? Like you can't just calculate the odds twice can you? There would be a whole separate probability for having two transgender children to one parent I would think, but I know nothing of math, soo.

What's also interesting is my little brother is also bi/bi curious but there's speculation he's just gay. And my uncles gay and genderqueer. And my gramma always says she wishes she were born a man and haates her breasts, but she doesn't understand what gay/transgender are (she's from another era). She's also very masuline, naturally, and always has been.

So basically my whole family is an LGBT mess, real,y.

[Teela Renee]

If you accept the 0.2% number, the chances of a two child family having two transgender kids would be about 1 in 250,000, meaning there would be hundreds of such pairs in the U.S.

My counsin  Amber used to be Ryan, and her brother  Dan used to be Sarah. So I guess its not all that uncommon.

[CaitlinH]

I believe it's more common than you may think. My younger brother (assigned female at birth) came out as being transgender around four years ago and began to transition shortly afterwards. It made telling my mother much easier since I knew she would be fully supportive of me, having been the same with my brother. At the same time it's also a double-edged sword: in many ways by not being the first to come out placed a certain kind of pressure on me to suppress my own gender identity. Even though the thoughts were completely unfounded, I felt myself being pushed to be as 'normal' as possible. My father was less than supportive of my brother as well, which makes the thought of eventually telling him at some point particularly nerve-wracking.

In regards to how common transgender siblings are, I was pretty curious about this myself and tried to find some academic journals about it a while ago. These are written from a cissexual point of view and honestly it shows in a number of ways, but they're well worth a read if you're curious about this phenomenon:

• Transsexuality Among Twins: Identity Concordance, Transition, Rearing, and Orientation
• Familiality of gender identity disorder in non-twin siblings
  

The second of the links indicates that a person is around four times more likely to be transgender if a sibling is also transgender, though that figure is slightly flawed in that the study only looks at those who are openly transgender. I suspect that the rate could in fact be higher, given the number of transgender people who choose to remain in the closet.

[Sydney_NYC]

When I came out to my brother, he told me that he thought he might be transgender as well, but is still processing it all. He's been nothing but 100% supportive for me.

[swatch]

One of my sisters had similar feelings, long ago. But not something too overwhelming, since she got it out of her mind in her late teens I think.

[jussmoi4nao]

See, actually, I find that reaally interesting cuz it does seem to indicate some sort of inheritance in ->-bleeped-<-. My sisters partly why I've always been so convinced it's not psychological. Some times I wish she'd just transition so I wouldn't be alone xD she always says she would if the FtM SRS were perfected.

[alabamagirl]

My mum is a lesbian, one of my half-brothers is gay, and one of my cousins is asexual, so there's a fair bit of LGBT in my family, too, but as far as I know, I'm the only trans* person.

This is just my opinion, but I think it's probably more likely for someone to have LGBT relatives if they are LGBT. It seems logical to me that genetics would play a part. And, of course, if you're closely related to someone who is LGBT, you feel less inclined to stay closeted.

[alabamagirl]

Just curious, I noticed the logo on the bottom corner of that pic. Why was your sister on the news?

[CaitlinH]

Yeah, it's certainly fascinating. I think that it is far more likely for there to be a biological cause for being trans*, with both empirical evidence and our own innate feelings supporting it. Our socialisation may determine who we are, but has very little to do with why we are.

[jussmoi4nao]

Just curious, I noticed the logo on the bottom corner of that pic. Why was your sister on the news?

Her best friend at the time (dude in the hat, who is now in transition and living as male) was being harassed at his highschool in NC for dressing masculine so they both went on the news to discuss mistreatment they received for their genderqueer identity/presentation.

It sucks because we weren't talking at the time because I was only 13 and she wasn't getting along with my mom, so I didn't get to have her support at the time. Ohh welll, tho, thats life!

[alabamagirl]

Her best friend at the time (dude in the hat, who is now in transition and living as male) was being harassed at his highschool in NC for dressing masculine so they both went on the news to discuss mistreatment they received for their genderqueer identity/presentation.

It sucks because we weren't talking at the time because I was only 13 and she wasn't getting along with my mom, so I didn't get to have her support at the time. Ohh welll, tho, thats life!

Yeah, but at least you have family who love you and will support you now. I always wanted a sister. It sucks being an only child. I have a couple half-brothers, but they were from my dad's first marriage and he had basically disowned them by the time I was born, so I never really got to spend any time with them. I found them on Facebook about a year ago and they really don't seem like the kind of people I want to get to know, either.