The Need For Further Brain Studies Of Transgender Individuals

Comment by Malxe Wegemer on August 30, 2012 at 12:04am

There actually have been some studies along these lines and there has been a consistent demonstration that the brain of a transgender person does have a structure more similar to the gender they feel themselves to be than their physical sex.  This article on NewScientist glosses over one such study.  I found it quite fascinating:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20032-transsexual-differences...

Comment by Caroline Grace on August 30, 2012 at 8:01am

Only 27 years to transition?  Beats my 42!!! any day of the week.  BTW, this isn't a race against someone else. It is a journey you make while still doing all the other things you wish to do in life, or have to do in life. You are relieved of all these other things you have to do simply because this is a heavy burden. So the rule always is your our path on your own timeline. One size panty house doesn't fit all and neither does one plan to deal with being transgender.

Love the flat tire quote. I will probably use it forever.  And I noted that you appear to be a person who has done the work to try to figure out all the possible options for you. You probably already know which path you should be taking if you only had to think of yourself.  "Love thy neighbor as thyself" has two parts. The second part is that you are commanded to love yourself, too, equally as much as you love others. Preachers push the first part but the back part needs or attention, too.  And don't ever tell a preacher I am quoting the Bible - they might think I gained religion and have a totally shocked look on their face. I am a non-believer in religions and yet I go to church regularly since I believe that we should look after our own spirituality.

BTW, I wish we would all donate our brains to science / medicine for study upon our deaths.  Perhaps one day they might find the physical differences that cause what we go through. What if they found a "cure"?  Would we take the cure? Since I both hate and love who I am, I am not entirely sure. Being male, to match my body, just seems so wrong. It would be like pulling the plug on my life and yet I know I lived that life for so many years. I some how managed to make things work. There is an irony there...

Hugs, Caroline

 

 

Comment by Karen Moate on August 30, 2012 at 10:15am

You are right it isn't a one size fits all thing.  I appreciate your input.  Figuring it all out is why I am here.  I  have to do the right thing  while trying to do right by the ones I love.  My boy are still at home and I don't want to take their dad away from them.  So aside from the emotional cost of transition there is the monetary cost.  How can I justify spending that much money on myself even if I did have it to spend?  I suppose my biggest problem is that I feel like a racehorse ready to run who has been put up in the stable.  Rushing into any of this isn't the way to go so I have to pace myself and REALLY examine my motives and options.  Of course I know exactly what I would do if there were no other people that I was responsible for.  For now I am taking it daily and doing what I can.   K

Comment by Karen Moate on August 30, 2012 at 10:42am

Now that is an interesting article.  Thank you for sharing that with me.  What is it going to take to get the medical and psychiatric establishment to recognize that this is real?  This isn't made up or chosen and we suffer tremendous anxiety, depression, suicide rates, alcoholism, drug abuse ect ect because of this brain abnormality.  I will volunteer to participate in a study myself.  I've notice that a lot of these articles and such on the internet are focused on helping transgender children.  What about the adults?  I am all for helping the kids and treating this early but I'm not a kid. 

Comment by Lauren Elisabeth Tancyus on August 30, 2012 at 11:36pm

Actually, there are also studies that contradict the theory that there are significant differences in the anatomy of the brain, None of the studies to date include large enough samples and not enough to state with scientific certainty that our brains are more like the opposite of our birth gender. There is enough research that do identify an assocation between the gender differences in the brain that makes this area of research viable and worthy of further investigation.

 

Comment by Lauren Elisabeth Tancyus on September 2, 2012 at 10:44am

Keven, the psychiatric and medical communities do know this is real. It's the insurance companies that are lagging, but progress is being made in this area. Most, if not all of the Fortune 750 companies pay for even pay for the genital reassignment surgery. In Virginia where I practice, all the insurance companies except my own (unfortunately for me) pay for psychotherapy, including Medicare and Medicaid. Progress is being made, just not fast enough!

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