Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Ok I've been studying about these sex chromosomes and some people are born with them in a male body, yada yada. My question is what if you get tested and you dont have the female chromosomes but still KNOW your a woman and want to live the rest of your life as such at the risk of losing your entire family? Is there any other physical reason for being a woman at heart. BTW I havent been tested yet and despite my gender dysphoria my entire life I was never abused and had a great childhood. I'm just jumping the gun a little in my quest for answers for my wife and I. Thanks. :)

I don't think the majority of transsexuals have any physical reason. The whole point is that your body doesn'y match your brain. If there were an easily quantified, qualified physical reason, we'd be more accepted.

This has been a topic of curiosity for myself too as I was under the impression an xxy male would be sterile, although they told me that in 9th grade biology so who knows if it is true. My case is a little unique though in that I have two different colored eyes which is often associated with twins. So, I kind of assumed I was a male / female twin in the early stages of development. It seems like that because the way my brother and I developed also perplexes me to a degree. We both ate the same dinners, the same sports, close to the same age. Yet, I naturally developed a very feminine body, extremely small amounts of facial hair and all that. And my brother is a good 2 inches taller than me and outweighs me by about 80 pounds of muscle and has had a 5 o'clock shadow since he was about 17. Could it just be pure luck that I developed in that way and also happened to be transexual? It seems unlikely and I think it has to be pointing to some biological reasons. I wish I knew more about this stuff.

Quote from: coolJ on December 11, 2008, 12:13:04 PM
Is there any other physical reason for being a woman at heart.

Does there have to be? Is the fact that every part of you screams the fact, you can't stop thinking about it, and the thought of not eventually being yourself fills you with such abject horror that you can't even entertain that notion without breaking out into a cold sweat... is that not enough 'reason'?

In my opinion, the only answer you need for yourself is "Because it's who I am. The 'why' isn't as important as 'what am I going to do about it?'"

There may well be a biological origin for the reason you feel this way, but to sacrifice your own self-belief and self-awareness to the quest for the Holy Grail of externally validating your condition through some piece of paper you can wave around that 'proves' you're not somehow lying... seems a bit of a high price to pay, in my view. :-\

Trust yourself, honey. Trust the way you feel. You know who you are more than anyone else does. And if it's who you are, and how you feel... that's all the 'reason' you need.

Quote from: Leiandra on December 11, 2008, 05:58:28 PM

There may well be a biological origin for the reason you feel this way, but to sacrifice your own self-belief and self-awareness to the quest for the Holy Grail of externally validating your condition through some piece of paper you can wave around that 'proves' you're not somehow lying... seems a bit of a high price to pay, in my view. :-\

Trust yourself, honey. Trust the way you feel. You know who you are more than anyone else does. And if it's who you are, and how you feel... that's all the 'reason' you need.

QFT!

A bit of research seems to point to brain physiology playing a big role. Which could be caused by genetics (probably in many cases not as blunt as whole chromosomes - more like particular genes or mixes of within our chromosomes), or environmental e,g, hormone fluctuations in your mothers tum. Your genes are only the beginning - how they express themselves is a complicated thing and can be influenced by external envrionment.

I was tested for low testosterone as a developing young male. It was because I was under sized and the testicles were also  minuscule.
I wasn't tested for the chromosomal dimensions, just whether or not, I was producing enough male hormone. I wasn't!
I was tested again when I was 17, and told at that time, I would be sterile. What sperm there was, were dead on delivery...

All this accounted for my being small framed and feminine featured. I have always wondered if the XXY chromosome was in me?  It's all a moot point now...

As far as I understand it, XXY born children are the ones who are defined as transgendered at birth...even at one year old, it is obvious that something isn't quite right...I believe it is also rare.

Quote from: FallenLeaves on December 11, 2008, 05:29:42 PM
My case is a little unique though in that I have two different colored eyes which is often associated with twins.

Can you cite a reference? I've never heard of that before.

Quote from: FallenLeaves on December 11, 2008, 05:29:42 PM
So, I kind of assumed I was a male / female twin in the early stages of development. It seems like that because the way my brother and I developed also perplexes me to a degree. We both ate the same dinners, the same sports, close to the same age. Yet, I naturally developed a very feminine body, extremely small amounts of facial hair and all that. And my brother is a good 2 inches taller than me and outweighs me by about 80 pounds of muscle and has had a 5 o'clock shadow since he was about 17. Could it just be pure luck that I developed in that way and also happened to be transexual? It seems unlikely and I think it has to be pointing to some biological reasons. I wish I knew more about this stuff.

Is your brother also your twin? It wasn't clear from your post. And if so, are you fraternal or identical twins?

Fraternal twins are just two eggs that got fertilized at the same time. There's no reason to expect them to be any more alike than two siblings born separately. And it's common to have male/female frat twins.

Identical twins are the result of one fertilized egg that splits early in development. I believe identical twins are actually considered a birth defect: the same process that causes conjoined twins (aka Siamese twins). But the split happens early enough that the fetuses are completely separate.

So if you're frat twins, that sounds perfectly normal. If you're ident twins, it does sound odd.

I've read stories of a pregnancy starting with two fetuses, and then one fetus getting "absorbed" into the other, so the mother gives birth to one (apparently) normal baby. But I don't know if that's ever been documented -- other than in Stephen King stories. :)

No, it has happened.
And there has been a "Pregnant" man in africa from that.
After 25 years, it started to bother him on the inside(AKA no one knew it happened)and they got a scan of what it was, and it was his brother Dead of course.

If anyone decides they want to get tested I found dnadirect.com does Karotype
testing. It costs about $500.

I have a lot of the symptoms/traits of being XXY and was curious but I have not
gotten the test. The symptoms includes being skinny, a youthful facial appearance,
sparse body and facial hair, wider hips, enlarged nipples/breasts, less muscle bulk. And
only about 95% of XXY Klinefelters are infertile.

I decided it would not change how I felt either way as I am what I am.

Amanda

Amanda;

I agree with you...sometimes ignorance is bliss. As in my case and it seems yours, does knowing really change anything?

I don't know if this helps or if anyone said it already but having xxy chromosomes is called Klinefelters syndrome/disorder (sorry if spelling is wrong) It can but does not always lead to infertility and does not nessaserilly affect physical appearence. I hope that was informative for you all.

PS. I'm a genetics student thats how i know this

-Claire

Ok i now realise all the points i made were covered by other people.
I shud prob read all the replies before i post on the topic :P

Quote from: MarySue on December 17, 2008, 11:14:22 AM

Quote from: FallenLeaves on December 11, 2008, 05:29:42 PM
My case is a little unique though in that I have two different colored eyes which is often associated with twins.

Can you cite a reference? I've never heard of that before.

Quote from: FallenLeaves on December 11, 2008, 05:29:42 PM
So, I kind of assumed I was a male / female twin in the early stages of development. It seems like that because the way my brother and I developed also perplexes me to a degree. We both ate the same dinners, the same sports, close to the same age. Yet, I naturally developed a very feminine body, extremely small amounts of facial hair and all that. And my brother is a good 2 inches taller than me and outweighs me by about 80 pounds of muscle and has had a 5 o'clock shadow since he was about 17. Could it just be pure luck that I developed in that way and also happened to be transexual? It seems unlikely and I think it has to be pointing to some biological reasons. I wish I knew more about this stuff.

Is your brother also your twin? It wasn't clear from your post. And if so, are you fraternal or identical twins?

Fraternal twins are just two eggs that got fertilized at the same time. There's no reason to expect them to be any more alike than two siblings born separately. And it's common to have male/female frat twins.

Identical twins are the result of one fertilized egg that splits early in development. I believe identical twins are actually considered a birth defect: the same process that causes conjoined twins (aka Siamese twins). But the split happens early enough that the fetuses are completely separate.

So if you're frat twins, that sounds perfectly normal. If you're ident twins, it does sound odd.

I've read stories of a pregnancy starting with two fetuses, and then one fetus getting "absorbed" into the other, so the mother gives birth to one (apparently) normal baby. But I don't know if that's ever been documented -- other than in Stephen King stories. :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimerism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimerism)
The article I have (it was a written article that I am not sure exactly where it is right now) that actually provided a lot more info regarding humans (they often possess traits like extra organs, two different colored eyes, and blood types that literally change). While there have been very few documented cases, it's also pretty rare that they notice these kinds of things, so who knows how many are out there. It also cited that the reason for these were twins that merged somehow early on in development. Being transexual and having two different colored eyes as well as a drastically different body type than my slightly younger brother has made me consider this a possibility. Not like it matters much anyways for anything but my own personal curiosity.