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Prepared by the Transman
Physician Update Project
24 January 2003

This brochure may be freely 
reproduced if done so in its entirety.
It can also be downloaded online at
http://www.trans-man.org/pgid.html 
 

(THE INFORMATION IN THIS 
BROCHURE WAS DEEMED 
ACCURATE AT THE TIME OF PUBLICATION. READERS 
ARE ENCOURAGED TO 
CONTINUE TO RESEARCH 
THESE ISSUES)
 
 
 
 
 
 


Trans Info Project
P.O. Box 1145
Greenbelt, MD 20768-1145

CURRENT INFORMATION ON PROFOUND
GENDER IDENTITY DISORDER (TRANSSEXUALITY)


 

2003 SUMMARY UPDATE
FOR 
MEDICAL
PROFESSIONALS

 

 

RECENT RESEARCH FINDINGS

I. In 2000 Dutch research confirmed previous (19951) anatomic findings that profound GID or transsexuality is directly linked to anomalous (sex-inverted) gender dimorphism of the BSTc brain area, and clarified that BSTc gender-inversion is not caused by cross-hormone treatment.2 These findings support a medical model of transsexuality as an 'obscured' congenital intersex condition, in which the genitalia are spared prenatally but the brain is not.3

II. A large, well-controlled study from Norway in 2000 demonstrated that transsexual persons ordinarily do not have a mental illness.4

III. A 1996 German study following 1422 gender-reassigned transsexual GID patients over a ten-year period found that less than 0.1% (1 in 1422) evidenced regret.5

IV. The 2001 HBIGDA Standards of Care now calls triadic treatment (surgery, hormones and cross-living) medically indicated, medically necessary, and proven effective, in profound GID or transsexuality.6
 

MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS CAN HELP TRANSSEXUAL PATIENTS BY:

  • Recognizing that profound GID (transsexuality) is a form of intersex, and is not normally associated with mental illness
  • Treating their gender-variant patients with professionalism, dignity, and compassion, as they would any other patient

    •  
  • Becoming informed about current medical treatment issues affecting transsexual and other intersex patients

    •  
  • Being aware that complete surgical and physical gender correction may span several years, and that patients may have some features of both genders during this time

    •  
  • Addressing and referring to the patient in the gender he or she prefers (Ask, if unsure)

    •  
  • Knowing that health-insurers still commonly discriminate against transsexual/intersex patients (Ask the patient which gender is appropriate on records/insurance forms)

Prepared by: The Transman 
Physician Update Project
24 January 2003



References


1 Zhou JN et al, A Sex Difference in the Human Brain and its Relation to Transsexuality, Nature 1995 Nov 2;378 (6552):68-70

2 Kruijver FPM et al, Male-to-Female Transsexuals have Female Neuron Numbers in a Limbic Nucleus, Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2000 May;85(5):2034-41

3 Gooren L, Gender Identity and Sexual Behavior, Endocrinology, Fourth Edition, Leslie J. DeGroot et al, eds., W.B. Saunders Co. 2001, p2039

4 Haraldsen IR, and Dahl AA, Symptom Profiles of Gender Dysphoric Patients of Transsexual Type Compared to Patients with Personality Disorders and Healthy Adults, Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavia 2000: 102:276-281

5 Weitze W, Osburg S, Transsexualism in Germany: Empirical Data on Epidemiology and Application of the German Transsexuals' Act During its First Ten Years, Archives of Sexual Behavior 1996; 25:409-425

6 Meyer W, et al, Standards of Care for Gender Identity Disorders-Sixth Version, International Journal of Transgenderism 2001; 5(1) http://www.symposion.com/ijt/soc_2001/