As a person that wasn't diagnosed until I was well into my 30's, you have the same kind of symptom's that I have. To give you a little medical background on myself, I have very little body hair that never grows. This includes facial hair and body hair. My pubic hair is very sparse as well as my underarm hair. My voice can go from feminine sounding male to female. Biologically, I have absent uterus and adnexa. Soft tissue is not within the perineal region correlating with the area where the vaginal tissue is expected. Prostate or seminal vesicles are not identified. I'm still not sure if the soft tissue in the perineal region correlates because I was tucking that day. I'm so small that I don't use tape or any of the methods that are used by others. I simply where tight panties. I'm also sure that since these were medical doctors that were examining me, they would know the difference between, penile skin and just soft tissue that could possibly be vaginal tissue that never fully developed.
Anyways, the findings was consistent with testicular feminization syndrome or other developmental hormonal abnormalities with absent uterus and ovaries. Finally, I had my diagnosis which I waited for years to obtain.
Now, to explain PAIS to you a little more, PAIS is a rare inherited condition in which biologically 'intended' males fail to show full normal male development because their bodies are unable to respond normally to male hormones. The key to this condition is inheritance. You should be able to trace it back into your family running among the female carriers in your family. My mother had seperate father from two of uncles and one aunt. My uncle who would not be a carrier and I would have to have my mother tested and all the women on her fathers side tested for PAIS carrier. Since I'm the only one on my immediate family side to have PAIS, you can sure tell the difference between me and my male cousins.
PAIS comes in grades. Grade 1 is the lowest and most grade 1 PAIS individuals have male genitalia that is undistinguished from other males and therefore may give off the impression that they are fully males. Grade 2 has some form of deformity and is noticed at birth, sometimes. Grade 3 are rush off to surgery because doctors most likely will not know rather it's a girl or boy. Grade 4 and 5 are mostly female and raised as such until puberty where it is discovered that they have undecended testicles. I'm a Grade 1.
It is very difficult for doctors to even want to run test to determine if you have PAIS because the test's are expensive. Most will feel that if you reach adulthood, you'll be o.k. and there is no need to make the discovery. I had to insist since I was 10 years old that something was wrong. Doctors ignored my constant headaches, nose bleeds, vomiting, under developed physical characteristics. When I told them I was a girl, they sent me to a shrink that said I suffered from childhood GID and I needed to be put around boys my own age and that would help me to develop into a boy. I was constantly teased throughout school, I was constantly mistaken for a girl. I tried to pretend that I was a boy and seem attracted to girls but really I just felt more comfortable around them and could relate to them more than boys. I was never sexually attracted to girls and I hated not being able to wear a dress to school. Thank heavens, I lived in California around the time the Jerry Curl was popular and I wore my hair long as I could.
By the time I reach my second year of High School, I could not take it anymore and I drop out of school and went to work full-time. Yet, I was still mistaken as a feminine male. Everyone thought I was gay. I had no words to explain what I was going through so I went along with it. People say I'm gay, I must be gay. But I was never attracted to a man as another man. The only words that I can explain my feeling is that I have the same sexual desires that a heterosexual female has. I'm getting a little to deep now, so I wont go further.
By the time I was 23 years of age, I learned about transsexualism and I knew right then and there that I had to be me. I took all my male cloths and shoes, put them in a trash bag and threw them out. I went into my mom's room and took one of her bra's, blouses and I put on a pair a slacks and out the door I went. I went downtown to Dot's (a 10 dollar store) and brought everything I needed to start living my life as a woman. The next day, I went into work and sat down with my supervisor's and their mangers and told them that I wasn't a man and that I was a woman. They had no issues. I drew my own legal pagers up and began the process to change my name legally. By Jan the following year, I had a legal name change and off I went to SSA office and DMV to have my gender changed on my license.
By February, I had my birth certificate in hand with my legal name on it but they refused to change the gender until I had vaginoplasty. At that time, I didn't have medical records to prove my PAIS. It didn't matter to me anyway because my drivers licensed said female on it. If people questioned why my birth certificate says male, I tell them because I'm intersexed.
So there you have it, my life in a nutshell. That was 14 years ago. I'll have vaginoplasty in 2 months and 20 more days. I'll put the finale payment on my surgery this coming Monday. The only thing that stops me from have surgery next week is that I don't have money for the recovery period in FLA. The hotel cost me $700 not including food and some other things I need to purchase like sanitary pads, protective bed pads, dilators and some other small stuff. I'll have that all that stuff paid in July.
In addition to that, Dr. Reed wants me to be in ideal weight range before he'll do the surgery. I'm 30LBS overweight and I'll lose that easy once I get rid of this sciatica problem I've had that prevents me from doing aerobic walks. I love aerobic walks, I lost 30 LbS in like 1 and half month. That and cutting my caloric intake down to about 1500 calories a day.
Well I hopes this helps, if you have other questions, feel free to ask.
