I don't want to give out too much personal information, so I'll leave it fairly vague. Someone who is directly related to me just came out privately to my wife, this person should have no clue that I am TG. I have never brought it up to this person, never hinted at it, yet there it is. The only way they could possibly guess, is by my personality. We have known this person since they were young, and they always exhibited traits of the opposite gender, despite another family member trying to pigeon hole them into their birth gender.
We represent such a tiny fraction of the population, and this just seems to be more than a coincidence. I'm now wondering who else in my family could have been TG, if I am from a long lineage of people who have carried some gene that causes this to us. Or perhaps it is just a coincidence.
I wish I could give more information, but I get a little paranoid on the Internet when it comes to sharing family member's information.
Does anyone else here have family members that are TG as well?
Quote from: zamber74 on August 22, 2017, 09:46:14 AM
I don't want to give out too much personal information, so I'll leave it fairly vague. Someone who is directly related to me just came out privately to my wife, this person should have no clue that I am TG. I have never brought it up to this person, never hinted at it, yet there it is. The only way they could possibly guess, is by my personality. We have known this person since they were young, and they always exhibited traits of the opposite gender, despite another family member trying to pigeon hole them into their birth gender.
We represent such a tiny fraction of the population, and this just seems to be more than a coincidence. I'm now wondering who else in my family could have been TG, if I am from a long lineage of people who have carried some gene that causes this to us. Or perhaps it is just a coincidence.
I wish I could give more information, but I get a little paranoid on the Internet when it comes to sharing family member's information.
Does anyone else here have family members that are TG as well?
I've been wondering the same myself.
I'm part if a very conservative family, so I don't know of anyone else who is lgtq, but within my family unit..my son is that, my daughter came out as bisexual-gender non-conforming, and I'm transgender. So, I wonder if they inherited from me..?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk
I totally doubt it's like hereditary. No one else in my family is trans or even gay that I know of.
Julia
Quote from: jennie.ayana on August 22, 2017, 11:08:35 AM
I've been wondering the same myself.
I'm part if a very conservative family, so I don't know of anyone else who is lgtq, but within my family unit..my son is that, my daughter came out as bisexual-gender non-conforming, and I'm transgender. So, I wonder if they inherited from me..?
Yeah, it really makes me wonder giving the low odds of it all. Not saying it is a sure thing, we both could just been hit by random chance, it is something that really makes me wonder though. I would ask my parents if they knew of anyone else in the family that was TG, but I haven't come out to them yet. My family is not very conservative, but they do not very often volunteer information unless I ask.
Quote from: Julia1996 on August 22, 2017, 11:19:24 AM
I totally doubt it's like hereditary. No one else in my family is trans or even gay that I know of.
Julia
Outside of that one family member, none of mine are either that I am aware of.
I don't know of any others in my family. However, there is evidence that at least some epigenetic effects can be passed generationally. That might account for this being prevalent in some families.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Hi girls 🙋🏼 I'm more inclined to think it's mostly the environment we are exposed to. Myself, I believe it was the DES my mother took to prevent miscarriage. I totally don't doubt that someone can be expose by some they ate on a regular basis that can shift gender.
Besides I believe in natural selection. I think that gene had a good chance of dying out.
Hugs, Jessica 💁
This topic is so close to home it isn't funny. First there is me who has been hiding on/off for 51 years. I told my wife before we got married I was CD then came clean with actually that I am trans. We kept it hidden as we didn't want the kids to know.
Our oldest turned 18 and said he was a she. WTF??? We both were shocked as she never had any of the signs I had when I was younger. So now she is on her way to doing what I always wanted.
We did tell the older two (20 & 18...) but not the 10 year old.
Now on my wife's side, our niece became our nephew and his one sister is either our new nephew or binary non-gender. Not sure yet as she won't tell anyone. The youngest of the 4 apparently feels like he is a she.
So that is 2 within the 5 in my house and then 2-3 out of 6 in my sister in-laws house.
There is another maybe 2 but that is on my wife's side but a step-dad, so no relation.
I am pretty sure I am the only member of my family who is trans. Nearly all the boys/men in my family are husky/stocky and dark (with black hair). I am the only one that is blond, small (now 5'-10") and built the way I am (feminine & leggy). I wish there could have been another that looked like me (and acted like me) in my family. Life might have been a bit easier(?). As I stated in other posts (and like others have said here), I never fit in with any of my family. So I don't really think it is passed through the generations/genes. I would love to see any studies on this...
Quote from: Charlene2017 on August 22, 2017, 04:28:47 PM
This topic is so close to home it isn't funny. First there is me who has been hiding on/off for 51 years. I told my wife before we got married I was CD then came clean with actually that I am trans. We kept it hidden as we didn't want the kids to know.
Our oldest turned 18 and said he was a she. WTF??? We both were shocked as she never had any of the signs I had when I was younger. So now she is on her way to doing what I always wanted.
We did tell the older two (20 & 18...) but not the 10 year old.
Now on my wife's side, our niece became our nephew and his one sister is either our new nephew or binary non-gender. Not sure yet as she won't tell anyone. The youngest of the 4 apparently feels like he is a she.
So that is 2 within the 5 in my house and then 2-3 out of 6 in my sister in-laws house.
There is another maybe 2 but that is on my wife's side but a step-dad, so no relation.
Wow, that's interesting. I guess it does run in the family. I can think of a few other cases - there's a trans youtuber I watch whose brother is also trans, and I remember a pair of trans sisters on the news a while ago. Also the Wachowski sisters. That said, maybe it's an illusion - if, say, 1% of the population is trans, and there were no correlation in a family, then the chance of both of two siblings being trans is 1 in 10,000. That means it would certainly happen, and then it'd make the news so we hear of it...Also, things like - aren't two twins more likely to be both gay than just one of them? Or some statistic like that.
I don't think anyone in my family is trans, sadly. But in one of my many trans-related dreams the other night, my old school librarian was some sort of trans counciller, and said to me, "Unfortunately, it was too late for your grandmother, but you'll be fine", and I was like, "You reckon my grandma was really a man?" and she said, "...Perhaps!" This woman never met my late grandma, and needless to say, the thought had never crossed my mind before. So God knows where that came from. XD
This topic has come up in the past and there are others on the site who had family clusters of LGBT members. I am not sure genetics are the only cause of being transgender but it appears their is a genetic tie for at least some of us. I kind of suspect that my father fell somewhere in the LGBT area but his difficulty in accepting me makes me wonder if he might not been able to accept himself. He was born shortly after the start of the 20th century and social roles were a good deal different at the time.
Because gender is determined by hormones, not (directly) by genes, there are lots of environmental factors that could be involved. Anything that messes with gestational hormone levels could do it. In some families DES is a possible culprit, and the mother could have been prescribed DES for several pregnancies. There are likely many environmental factors that could affect the hormones. However, since genes do influence hormones, some family clusters could be due to genetics, too.
In my family, of three siblings, one is gay and one (me) is trans. DES is suspected in my case. Is there a connection? Who knows?
All I know for sure is that Lada Gaga sang my song, I was "Born this Way!"
Quote from: KathyLauren on August 22, 2017, 07:21:01 PM
Because gender is determined by hormones, not (directly) by genes, there are lots of environmental factors that could be involved. Anything that messes with gestational hormone levels could do it. In some families DES is a possible culprit, and the mother could have been prescribed DES for several pregnancies. There are likely many environmental factors that could affect the hormones. However, since genes do influence hormones, some family clusters could be due to genetics, too.
In my family, of three siblings, one is gay and one (me) is trans. DES is suspected in my case. Is there a connection? Who knows?
Very true, I feel DES played a major part on my ->-bleeped-<-. My brother had a cyst and my sister was exposed also with no know effect.
Hugs, Jessica 💁
I can't tell for sure but I do believe that at least some of it has to be genetic. My brother is gay, I'm trans (still presenting as a gay man), I got 3 gay uncles, one gay great uncle, one lesbian great aunt (who I suspect could be trans, she has always dressed very masculine), one bisexual cousin. My best friend who is gay has a lesbian sister (and her girlfriend has a gay brother), a bisex cousin and a gay cousin. His ex boyfriend also has a lesbian sister. It can't be a coincidence.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I think epigenetic is slowly coming to the fore as a possible cause but also of course social acceptance.
In a family it may be a lot easier for family members to come out as they know that they will (should) be accepted.
The weirdest case I've come across so far was when attending a TG social club many years ago. There were 4 new members that evening, all MtF all from the same class at the same school and none of them had seen each other for 10+ years and had NEVER discussed that they were gender diverse with anyone at school and had been in hiding themselves for their entire lives.
Of course that has absolutely nothing to do with anything but I thought I'd mention it! :laugh:
Quote from: Cindy on August 23, 2017, 04:23:34 AM
The weirdest case I've come across so far was when attending a TG social club many years ago. There were 4 new members that evening, all MtF all from the same class at the same school and none of them had seen each other for 10+ years and had NEVER discussed that they were gender diverse with anyone at school and had been in hiding themselves for their entire lives.
I ran in to an old school friend while out and about in Melbourne, seems we both had a similar tale to tell.. So that was 2 in 60 students , age 18 +/- 2 years. I wonder if that's some kind of statistical anomaly. Seems she'd transitioned straight out of HS..
This is getting interesting. When I first read this post I thought absolutely no way is being trans genetic. But after reading some of these posts about having more than one gay family member I'm not so sure. Our understanding of genetics is still limited. I guess it's not impossible that there is some genetic cause we just don't know about. I'm sure if a gene was discovered that caused people to be trans or gay they would find a way to eradicate it and the future would have only hetero, cis people in it. I remember an old movie where everyone was genetically engineered and they had eliminated ugliness, obesity, addiction AND sexual deviancy. I think it was called Gattica.
Genetics are weird. Luckily for my older brother he doesn't have albinism. He had a 50% chance of being born with it. Actually I think it would be cool to have a gay brother. But no such luck. I'm stuck with a masculine gym rat who sleeps with every girl he can.
I keep reading about people who's mom took this DES stuff when they were pregnant. That's awful. Being trans is awful and painful but it's better than missing limbs. I watched this show once about all the babies who were born missing limbs and deformed back in the 50s from them giving that stuff to pregnant women. How could that even happen? Didn't they have clinical trials back then? Didn't drugs have to be cleared by the FDA? That's so sad!
Julia
There is no one else on either side of my family that I know of who was known to be trans. I have several folks on both sides of my family who are very into geneology, so I can trace my family history back pretty far. Unless they were closeted or really private about it, there is no one but me.
That said, PCOS does seem to occur more often than not in my family tree, which also has an interestingly high diagnosis rate in the FTM community.
Quote from: FTMax on August 23, 2017, 07:02:09 AM
There is no one else on either side of my family that I know of who was known to be trans. I have several folks on both sides of my family who are very into geneology, so I can trace my family history back pretty far. Unless they were closeted or really private about it, there is no one but me.
That said, PCOS does seem to occur more often than not in my family tree, which also has an interestingly high diagnosis rate in the FTM community.
Before I joined this site and read some of the life stories I always thought being trans started very early in life and it would be totally obvious someone was trans. But after reading about how very well some people have been able to hide it I can only say no one else in my family is trans that I KNOW of.
Julia
Quote from: Julia1996 on August 23, 2017, 06:48:25 AM
I keep reading about people who's mom took this DES stuff when they were pregnant. That's awful. Being trans is awful and painful but it's better than missing limbs. I watched this show once about all the babies who were born missing limbs and deformed back in the 50s from them giving that stuff to pregnant women. How could that even happen? Didn't they have clinical trials back then? Didn't drugs have to be cleared by the FDA? That's so sad!
Julia
You are thinking of thalidomide, not DES. Thalidomide is the one that made babies without limbs. DES just made "boys" trans and girls get cancer.
Drug trials for efficacy and safety are a relatively recent innovation, resulting largely from those and similar tragedies in the past.
I can't prove it, but I suspect its environmental. I think people are being exposed to something during development that causes changes. Prior to the age of pharmaceuticals, transgender was nearly unknown. In the last 60 years or so it has exploded, and seems to be accelerating.
Quote from: WhatAmI? on August 23, 2017, 08:54:12 AM
I can't prove it, but I suspect its environmental. I think people are being exposed to something during development that causes changes. Prior to the age of pharmaceuticals, transgender was nearly unknown. In the last 60 years or so it has exploded, and seems to be accelerating.
I think ->-bleeped-<- has been around probably as long as people have. It is just getting to the point where people are less persecuted so you hear about it more and more. I've heard that in some cultures it wasnt viewed as negatively and so you can find examples of it going way back.
Quote from: WhatAmI? on August 23, 2017, 08:54:12 AM
I can't prove it, but I suspect its environmental. I think people are being exposed to something during development that causes changes. Prior to the age of pharmaceuticals, transgender was nearly unknown. In the last 60 years or so it has exploded, and seems to be accelerating.
Trans people have existed throughout recorded history, we are not something new. Based on the available science, I suspect we'll eventually discover that it's just another non-terminal defect of fetal development.
Quote from: Amy85 on August 23, 2017, 09:03:26 AM
I think ->-bleeped-<- has been around probably as long as people have. It is just getting to the point where people are less persecuted so you hear about it more and more. I've heard that in some cultures it wasnt viewed as negatively and so you can find examples of it going way back.
That is why I said "nearly" unheard of. It existed, but seems like it was very rare. The question in my mind is why is there a growing population of us? I don't believe it is just a matter of cultural acceptance. We all know that Thailand is the world leader in GCS surgeries performed annually. But do you know what country is #2? Iran! Cultural acceptance of transgender people isn't exactly great there.
Maybe I just wish I didn't have to struggle with it, and want something to blame.
Quote from: kelly_aus on August 23, 2017, 09:12:01 AM
Trans people have existed throughout recorded history, we are not something new. Based on the available science, I suspect we'll eventually discover that it's just another non-terminal defect of fetal development.
I agree. And to be clear, I wasn't trying to say that transgender people did not exist in past generations, only that they were extremely rare. And now we have a rapidly growing population of transgender people.
My younger brother is Trans, he and I were often mistaken for twins growing up. My older sister is Bi. My mom is a Lesbian, and my Uncle on my Dad's side is gay.
I wonder sometimes if, in a more accepting environment, there may be more queer people in my family. I think living in the closet is an accepted reality for many people, and I think it is more true for people of older generations. My mom, in particular, I think could actually be trans, if she were open to the idea. But she's pretty set in her ways, and being a Mom is a huge part of her identity...
Regarding the environmental factors, well, I think both my parents did their fair share of drugs in the 60s/70s, my Dad most especially. I've noticed there's a tendency for him to more or less believe that Psychedelics could be responsible for just about anything. He's even mentioned he thinks they changed him 'genetically.' Trippy, man.
Yes, I know the struggle, and I sometimes wish I didn't have to deal with it. I fear for my son, who is gay. And for my daughter as well...I think she might be trans too. She still has to figure that out on her own. At the very least she falls somewhere in the lgtqb spectrum.
I think back about all the emotional, social issues I went through and still through now. I don't want that for them.
I wonder if it was in my genes, or the way I raised them..i just don't know. I wish there was a smoking gun, something specific I can point to, to justify being the way we are...(in the words of my wife..'not normal')
Perhaps it's social pressure, or perhaps it's the fact that we live in a very liberal city/state, or the way I tried to raise them..being accepting of everyone's differences, or just genes...fact is I just don't know..and I wish I did.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk
Quote from: WhatAmI? on August 23, 2017, 03:19:43 PM
I agree. And to be clear, I wasn't trying to say that transgender people did not exist in past generations, only that they were extremely rare. And now we have a rapidly growing population of transgender people.
I tend to think that a lot of that might simply be in the modern day we are more prone to making a greater distinction between groups in an attempt to more accurately distinguish similar (at least on the surface) conditions. For instance, cross dressing is fairly common historically, and it is very likely that trans people simply were lumped under that header even if we make a distinction now. It's hard to say how common being transgender was, when the entire concept (or rather the inclination and ability to distinguish it) is relatively new.
Bear with me here, this is going to be a weird metaphor, but it's all I can think of. It's like what we think of as a "sandwich". If you were to time travel to any random point before the past few hundred years and ask for a sandwich, they wouldn't have the slightest clue what you were talking about (you know, assuming that they spoke modern english and you didn't instantly die to some 7th century bacteria we no longer have resistance to). But then if you were to explain what a sandwich was, the odds are they'd just nod and say "Oh yeah, we put random stuff between pieces of bread all the time". So it's not that sandwiches didn't exist, simply that they weren't labeled as such.
I have 2 gay cousins on my Dad's side of the family, they are brothers. I have 1 lesbian cousin, and 1 potential lesbian cousin on my mom's side of the family. My wife's family, who are descendants of my grandfathers cousin, so second cousin 6 times removed, or something like that, has 3 lesbians, and 1 gay boy. So far I am the only, mostly out, transwoman in my family.
Transgender people obviously existed historically. It's just in most cultures it was something to be shamed so although it's mentioned it didn't seem like it happened at such high numbers. However the most current estimate is 0.5% of the population is trans. That doesn't sound like much but that means 1 in every 200 births. Starts to seem a lot more significant now doesn't it?
I think environmental issues likely cause it to occur but modern medicine did a fine job with medications that are endocrine disrupters. Mainly DES in modern times.
There could be some genetic issues. Our development is so complex that perhaps just a slightly mutated gene can increase the likelihood. It could be a gene either on the production end of the hormones or the receiver end. Possibly one involved with the process past simply activating a hormone receiver. Biology is just so complex in its mechanisms.
I just started reading a new book published this year, "Being Transgender: What you Should Know." It's written by a transgender Phd who has been involved in studies about the biology, history and cultural aspects of being transgender. It discusses the available biological and social evidence for transgender having genetic, biological and prenatal environmental factors. The author is Dr. Thomas (Dana) E. Bevan, if you want to find it online. I got mine from Amazon.com. It's very good, not technical and something you can share with your loved ones. I got the hardcover instead of the Kindle version, so I could easily share it. I recommend it.
I'll add another personal story to the mix.
As far as I know, I'm the only trans person in my family. But I have a gay parent, and that gay parent has a gay sibling. There may be more family that identifies as LGBT, but that side of my family is pretty conservative and from a small town, so it's likely that they're closeted.
Anyway, if there is some hereditary aspect to it, I'm not sure how much the LGB in my family is related to me being T. For purposes of genetics, would that be the same thing (or close to the same thing)? I don't know. But it is odd that we are so heavily LGBT compared to what average statistics would suggest.
Erika
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Quote from: Roll on August 23, 2017, 03:53:32 PM
I tend to think that a lot of that might simply be in the modern day we are more prone to making a greater distinction between groups in an attempt to more accurately distinguish similar (at least on the surface) conditions. For instance, cross dressing is fairly common historically, and it is very likely that trans people simply were lumped under that header even if we make a distinction now. It's hard to say how common being transgender was, when the entire concept (or rather the inclination and ability to distinguish it) is relatively new.
It's like when the numbers of people were diagnosed with autism drastically increased, and people chalked it up to something in the air, when really, doctors gained a more accurate understanding of the disorder (that might not be the right word...?) and the spectrum was expanded, so of course more people would be actually diagnosed with it. When we broaden the circles that encompass one "thing" or separate an old, big circle into smaller Venn diagrams within the big one, we do, in fact, see more people with that specific "thing." So when they made the Autism circle bigger, more people were placed in it, BUT they are now also put into the smaller circles inside, so for example there's more "high functioning autistic people" then there ever were before... because they just didn't have a name or a box to go in.
That may only make sense in my head, though...
Anyway, when I came out to my mom she expressed that she had always had similar feelings, and at one point seriously questioned who she was supposed to be. Don't really know anyone else on her side, because she was an only child and the rest of her parents' family weren't really around, and its about the same situation on my dad's side- though I do have a half-sister (same father) that I suspect is at least bisexual, and I used to swear up and down that her brother is gay. He's married with kids now, but, as we all know, that could or could not mean much.
Anyway, I think there is at least some kind of combination of Nature and Nurture that has an influence, not just one of the two.