Heya, I put on nine new studies (well, new to me) this morning. Whenever I find a new article, I scan the literature list, which means that this exploration can quickly branch out like a tree… and then it’s easy to lose the overview, with many windows open and hundreds of studies of relevant studies already listed, and hundreds and hundreds more of studies that are not relevant to my areas of interest… many of which I have scanned already. Maybe I need to work on a database?

• So, we got the brand new “Neural Network of Body Representation Differs between Transsexuals and Cissexuals” from Taiwan, published in Plos One, 2014. It gives further neurological evidence for the self-reported feelings of transsexuals. We do have a problem with our bodies (before sex reassignment therapy) and that shows in the brain.
• A 2002 article in European Psychiatry, “The transsexual: what about the future?” is a very positive literature review on the outcomes of sex reassignment – high satisfaction, less than 1 % of regrets, and about 1 % suicides (too many of course, but still low).
• In Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics, 2014, a Belgian team researched “Conversational topics in transsexual persons”. They found that transsexuals behave like persons of their desired gender, and that it’s not necessary to focus on conversational topics in therapy.
• The small Finnish study “Disordered eating and gender identity disorder: a qualitative study” (Eating disorders, 2012) found that a majority of transsexuals suffer from eating disorders; however, gender reassignment reduces these problems.
• In Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 2012, the study “The relationship between gender-based victimization and suicide attempts in transgender people” reports that 45 % of transgender people experience hostility at school, and 29 % have had suicide attempts. Gender-based hostility was associated with a higher risk for suicide attempts. In short, bullies do kill people. No kidding.
• The study with the long title “The influence of general identity disturbance on reports of lifetime substance use disorders and related outcomes among sexual minority adults with a history of substance use” in Psychology of addictive behaviors (2011) finds that sexual minority people become more often addicted to drugs than sexual majority people. I love the expression “sexual majority” people. ☺
• “Transgender children: more than a theoretical challenge” in the Graduate Journal of Social Science (2010) finds that concealing and suppressing identity, and the associated guilt and shame lead to “substantial underachievement in all areas” of lives. It truly is a disaster how many resources are wasted and how many people have to suffer needlessly (well… the cause is oppression by society, of course, but there is no good reason why society should be hostile towards transgender people).
• An article from 2009, “Somatic sex reprogramming of adult ovaries to testes by FOXL2 ablation” in the publication cell finds that genes located on non-sex chromosomes are responsible for turning testes into ovaries and vice versa. This shows the complexity of genetic sex differentiation… and more possible causes for disorders of sex development (DSD).
• The German study “Transsexuals’ life satisfaction after gender transformation operations” from 2006, published in Der Chirurg, finds that a large majority of transsexuals are happy with gender reassignment, and that overall health satisfaction is the same as for controls, but that the general life satisfaction is lower than in controls. No surprise here, I think, but it would have been interesting to know what the general life satisfaction was before sex reassignment. Anyway, good to know that health after surgery seems fine.

It’s kind of reassuring that so many studies provide evidence that confirms common sense and life experience of transsexuals. Phrased slightly differently, these studies often produce a “Duh!” reaction, when read by gender dysphoria sufferers. Please don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to belittle those scientists or the scientists doing them, studies examining things that are common knowledge are absolutely necessary and often of great importance (especially when they disagree, of course). …and it’s nice to know that one’s worldview is in line with reality. ☺