Explaining GID

Understanding Gender Dysphoria An Explanation

[parts by courtesy of The Gender Trust]

Abstract

Most of us are perfectly comfortable with the fact that we are male or female. In fact we normally never give it a thought. But there are a very few people who feel they were born with the wrong body – men who feel they should have been born women and vice versa. In many cases these people, referred to as transsexuals, remember feeling this way even in childhood. When the feeling becomes strong enough, the person may seek surgery to remove their testes or ovaries, may have their external genitalia surgically altered and take hormones to make them appear like the other sex. These extreme measures are accompanied by discomfort and risk, so no one would entertain them on a whim. Rather, transsexuals take such drastic measures because they feel so strongly and consistently that they should have been born the opposite sex. [ read in full here ]

My personal hopes are; that in time Gender Dysphoria will be removed as a psychological diagnosis within the DSM & ICD classifications.

Carol Robson

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mattel Chidren's Hospital at UCLA-News: Research Suggests That Sexual Identity Is 'Hard-Wired' Before Birth

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Transsexualism: A Medical Overview

Third Edition, March 1998

Preface

This booklet was written as a summary of current practice for the medical treatment of male-to-female transsexuals. It is not intended as a general introduction to the condition: for such an introduction your attention is drawn to the booklet "Transsexualism: A Primer".

This booklet was written as a general overview of current medical practice; it is not intended as a medical textbook. Much of the material was gathered from existing medical literature, supplemented by personal experiences of some of the contributors to this booklet. Contributors include transsexual women as well as a counsellor and electrologist.

Every effort has been made to ensure that this booklet is as complete and accurate as possible, but the publishers cannot accept liability for any errors or omissions. ©The Looking Glass Society, 1997/8.

To read full booklet click here: http://www.looking-glass.greenend.org.uk/medical.htm

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Site Map