causes of FTM trans-ness

[WolfNightV4X1]

Couldn't tell you what CAUSED me to be trans, just I know the symptoms were partly always there my entire life.

I don't know if anything during pregnancy affected it, my mother was pretty vague about the time before and during my birth. All I know is before me she had an abortion, which she regrets and therefore is an advocate against it. I ended up being the first child by C-Section. Can't recall why, if at all. Wouldn't know if she was pumped with any type of hormone to help the process either.

This discussion is so interesting to me. My 15 year old recently came out to me as FTM. Early in my pregnancy (6 weeks or so) I experienced bleeding during an exam, so the doctor had me take progesterone (maybe synthetic, I don't remember) to prevent miscarriage. If it matters, I was 36, and my baby was born 6 weeks early via C-section. With my second child, pregnancy was normal, and there are no signs of trans-ness yet. The cause makes no difference in my love and support of my child, but it's interesting to me. It may also help the grandparents be more accepting.

As a child who's mother is completely flustered, bewildered, and angry about my nature, thank you for looking into it as much as you have. Seriously, thank you for being a good parent to your child, on behalf of all ftm's such as myself. Not all of us get love and support and I'm happy that there are others out there like me that do, despite how difficult it all is to wrap one's head around, trans or not.

[WolfNightV4X1]

-people are trans for all kinds of reasons...but those reasons are undoubtedly rooted in biological brain development influenced by hormones (hormones generally, not just hormones given to pregnant women).  I find this information empowering, personally, instead of a denial of identity. We are all who we are because of the biological make up of our brains, trans or not.

Aye, I actually wasn't considering being transgender before I knew about the biological facts of sex, male and female. Once I began recognizing I had these feelings I found they were legitimate and not just 'a costume for fun' identity and were supporting in some stance of factual support.

Quoted and bolded for truth, it's my favorite line to see on here

[DemonRaven]

I am glad to run across this article. My mom did take the drugs and I was more male looking at birth, which they fixed, grrr and I also have a male brain. I am just happy to finally find others that actually have this problem. I would be FTM except that because of past abuse i can't stand the way the male genitalia looks. But ya I was a total tomboy growing up. progestin induced virilization is a real condition.  I hate to disappoint those who wish to discount intersexxed conditions but we do exist and I am one of them.

[haeden]

Not sure about if she was on hormones with me but I did just text her and asked lol so I'll let you know if she was.
Other than that possibility my mom had 4 other kids before me between us (so kid 1&2, 2&3 and so forth) there was only a 2 year or 4 year difference between her pregnancies.
My brother closest in age to me is gay and I thought I was gay too until I learned about being trans so maybe that could be it?
You also mentioned stress and well my mom got a divorce while pregnant with my brother (the one mentioned above) and then 4 years later had me with the same guy she had just divorced so I'm sure that was stressful lol. My dad is not an easy person to deal with and can be self centered and from what my siblings have implied and from what I've seen he was a donkeys backside to my mom so even more stress.

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[sfreit89]

My mother didn't have miscarriages before me or take any synthetic hormones.. but I will say that I work in a closed door pharmacy as a pharmacy technician and are required to label all hormones with 'Do Not Touch If Pregnant' stickers because of the 'potential' of the fetus exhibits signs of the opposite sex (ie a male fetus while taking estrogen).. it's more of a speculation than for sure fact because you won't find this written on the bottle. Had never even heard of it until a pharmacist told me

[Kylo]

I just remembered something from childhood while thinking about hormones - when I was 7 I found a bottle of birth control pills apparently (this is on the edge of my memory, all I remember is that they were all bright pink and looked like smarties) on my mother's dressing cabinet. Somehow I opened the (child proof) bottle and ate every single one.

I remember my mother calling the doctor and the doctor being pretty blase about it and saying it would have no effect and not to worry. I guess he was right because nothing did appear to happen. I was also not one of those kids who entered puberty early. I was 17 when I did, which is pretty late.

I doubt it had any effects on me regards trans but I suppose you never know. Female hormones not likely to produce any FTM, which is what they were. In the years since, whoever made these tablets saw sense and decided not to make them look like candy. 

[DemonRaven]

The stress was on my end and had nothing to do with my mom's pregnancy. Those drugs do have a documented effect on female fetus. There was some babies that actually were labeled male and raised that way. They are finding out that a lot of things can affect babies in the womb including stress. To think that hormones that are chemically similar to testrone not having a effect on a female fetus when ftm take it is being totally naive. As one pointed out there are articles on the effect it has on rats and monkeys. Not all transgenders are a result of hormones but if chemicals or nature can make the body look different why would the brain be exempt from it?

[DemonRaven]

In regard to being intersexxed and transgender. In the usa someone intersexxed is not considered to be transgender if they are dissatisfied with their assigned gender because of the very fact that we are intersexxed. In other words we are just dissatisfied customers lol.

[HughE]

I just remembered something from childhood while thinking about hormones - when I was 7 I found a bottle of birth control pills apparently (this is on the edge of my memory, all I remember is that they were all bright pink and looked like smarties) on my mother's dressing cabinet. Somehow I opened the (child proof) bottle and ate every single one.

I remember my mother calling the doctor and the doctor being pretty blase about it and saying it would have no effect and not to worry. I guess he was right because nothing did appear to happen. I was also not one of those kids who entered puberty early. I was 17 when I did, which is pretty late.

I doubt it had any effects on me regards trans but I suppose you never know. Female hormones not likely to produce any FTM, which is what they were. In the years since, whoever made these tablets saw sense and decided not to make them look like candy. 

Yes, you probably didn't suffer any long term effects from an exposure at 7 years old. Hormones have two distinct types of effect depending on when in your life you're exposed to them. There's an "organizational" phase starting about 6 weeks after conception and ending a few months after birth, when hormones can (among other things) affect your brain development in ways that have large, permanent effects on personality, behaviour, gender identity, your whole core sense of who you are as a person. Once the organizational phase has ended, hormones have "activational" effects instead. Basically they bring to life all the stuff that was laid down during the organizational phase, and transform you from a child into an adult man or woman. Normally, once the organizational period has ended, your hormone levels remain low throughout infancy and childhood, and it's not until puberty that they rise to a high level again. However, a one off exposure during childhood probably wouldn't have any permanent effects.

If your mother had downed a bottle of pills while pregnant with you, it'd be a whole different story though, since the exposure would be occurring during the organizational period. There would be permanent effects (exactly which things affected depending on how far into your prenatal development the exposure occurred).

[HughE]

I've been thinking about this for a while. If being intersex and transgender are both caused by hormone imbalances during development of the fetus, that makes them pretty similar, right? In the case where someone's gender is binary, an intersex person will have sort of mixed genitals (from what I gather), while a trans person completely has the body of the opposite sex. This would imply that there's a scale, with cis being at one end, trans (with binary gender) at the other end, and intersex in between. Not only does this mean that the cause of being trans is biological, it also implies that it's just a more extreme version, or the next step, after intersex. What do you guys think of this?

I think intersex and transgender both have the same underlying cause: abnormal hormone levels during the time your prenatal development is taking place, and the seemingly different outcomes are just the result of the hormone disruption having occurred early in your prenatal development (intersex), or during its later stages (transgender). Genital development takes place during a relatively narrow window starting 7 weeks after conception and ending during week 12, so exposure to external hormones after that point won't have much effect on the appearance of the genitals. However, brain development is ongoing throughout the pregnancy, and the second half of the pregnancy seems to be particularly important as far as sex differences in the brain are concerned. So hormone disruption at any time during your prenatal development can potentially affect the sex of your brain, with the effects likely to be particularly pronounced if it occurs during the second half of the pregnancy.

[DemonRaven]

I think intersex and transgender both have the same underlying cause: abnormal hormone levels during the time your prenatal development is taking place, and the seemingly different outcomes are just the result of the hormone disruption having occurred early in your prenatal development (intersex), or during its later stages (transgender). Genital development takes place during a relatively narrow window starting 7 weeks after conception and ending during week 12, so exposure to external hormones after that point won't have much effect on the appearance of the genitals. However, brain development is ongoing throughout the pregnancy, and the second half of the pregnancy seems to be particularly important as far as sex differences in the brain are concerned. So hormone disruption at any time during your prenatal development can potentially affect the sex of your brain, with the effects likely to be particularly pronounced if it occurs during the second half of the pregnancy.

I tend to agree I also think they are linked and have the same underlying causes as well.

[Silver Centurion]

This is a really interesting thread! My mom miscarried before me and I'm not certain that they put her on anything but I'm going to ask her. I was born earlier than expected but not too much earlier. She's told me that when she was pregnant with my brother she nearly lost him several times. There was something going on (and I can't remember what exactly it is off the top of my head) but her blood is whatever blood type and negative which complicates things. I've always thought even since I was little that something went wrong. I just didn't know that how I felt happened to other people too until I was in my early thirties.

[DemonRaven]

It is possible Silver Centurion. As for a update. I talked to my dad. Yes she took the drug for sure and it was the worst one the one that is the most similar to testosterone chemically. There is also a good chance that she took DES along with it IF she did her body would have said opps to much estrogen and converted to, guess what, progesterone because that is what happens during pregnancy. My father also confirmed that my urethra not aligned like a female at birth. To be honest i am still larger then most fTM when they have been taking the hormones.  I am tempted to go all the way like one person like me who had a similar diagnosis. He became a male. I just have a couple of problems i can't stand the way males look down there because of the abuse i suffered. The other is that for a male i would be a midget.

[Jermaine]

I think this is a interesting topic to speculate but ultimately, we just feel the way we do imo. Although, I read somewhere that naturally we are found with a lot of testosterone for our anatomical bodies and that is what causes us to feel/be masculine. My mom had a miscarriage before me , it was predicted to be a male.

[MeTony]

Interesting topic. I was a tomboy as a kid. I played hockey and easily build muscle. I was an outdoor kid. Always outside playing with boys. Until I became a teen and was suddenly alone. I did not fit anywhere.

I don't know if my mom had hormones while pregnant. But she told me she put cute dresses and hats on me as a toddler and I screamed until she took them off.

[Jermaine]

Interesting topic. I was a tomboy as a kid. I played hockey and easily build muscle. I was an outdoor kid. Always outside playing with boys. Until I became a teen and was suddenly alone. I did not fit anywhere.

I don't know if my mom had hormones while pregnant. But she told me she put cute dresses and hats on me as a toddler and I screamed until she took them off.

Same here, My mom says she knew i was a boy because when i was 4 she tried putting me in a skirt and i wouldnt put it on and always drove her to the boys clothin section. I dont even remeber when I was 4 lol. At 5, i had a crush on my kindergarten teacher. I feel like we were almost born as men sometimes.

[TransAm]

I'm not sure if my mom ever took anything when she was pregnant but I know that I was a gigantic baby (10lbs). She had to be induced, actually, because I went two weeks past my due date.

And, falling in line with what others here have said, both of my parents knew something was 'off' when I hit age three. Mom in particular said I adamantly rejected wearing 'girly' things and gravitated towards the 'boy' section in stores.
I was an only child (first and last attempt, so no miscarriages either) and my mom was fairly young at age 20 when she got pregnant.
There was no doubt in my mind that I was a boy growing up. The only thing that finally broke my spirit was hitting puberty.

[November Fox]

For your research!

My mom did not take any hormone based medication that I know of, her entire life.
But she did have high androgen (beard growth, more body hair, lower voice, more acné). I have the same things. However due to hormonal balance she also suffered from emotional instability and more severe mood changes than usually women do.

I do suspect that the high amount of androgen might have something to do with me being FTM, but she never had any discomfort with her gender.

[Kylo]

I'm not sure if my mom ever took anything when she was pregnant but I know that I was a gigantic baby (10lbs). She had to be induced, actually, because I went two weeks past my due date.

I was a very large baby too. I don't remember the weight but everyone always talked about how oddly big I was and how long it took to get me out. My mother was also only 20 when she had me. I wonder if the stress of her lifestyle, her family problems and living with my father had anything to do with some or all of it.

Another weird thing about me was that when they did get me out I didn't make a sound. They thought there might have been something up with me because I didn't cry slept far more than a baby was supposed to or something like that. In the end they accepted I liked to spend a lot of time asleep in the first year.

My parents seemed to accept a lot of things about me and never apparently noticed they were strange. The downside of this "acceptance" was when I was old enough to tell them I was depressed, and stuff was wrong, they just kind of ignored it.

[DemonRaven]

There is a group on facebook if you are more interested for those that suspect it to be hormone based it is a closed one and the name is DES: Society of Sons and Daughters (So Sad). There is a article on the progesterone that my mom probably took and it confirms that intersex people like me will have gender identity problems it is found on  https://www.facebook.com/notes/protect-the-unborn-child-from-synthetic-hormones/intersexuality-caused-by-progestin-exposure/1632158097087158 Intersexuality caused by progestin exposure PROTECT THE UNBORN CHILD FROM SYNTHETIC HORMONES·TUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2017 Synthethic hormones apparently can also have a effect on bio males as well as far as gender identity goes.