Born This Way
I have been analyzing the available scientific data on causal factors in transgenderism and transsexualism (TSTG) for the past 8 years. Bottom line is that we were “born that way.” The exact mechanisms are not clear at this point but we know which causal factors are involved.
The first causal factor is genetic. For some of us, our DNA just gave us a gender predisposition that does not agree with the sex and gender behavior category we were assigned at birth.
The proof of a genetic factor comes in two parts. The first proof is that studies of identical twins indicate that if one twin is TSTG, then the other will likely be TSTG. The other proof is that DNA genetic markers have been found for TSTG, both MTF and FTM (in different spots). DNA markers are configurations of the DNA molecule that are present in TSTG and not in other people. Markers have been found for many traits, for example, eye color and certain types of breast cancer.
For others of us, our original DNA did not cause our TSTG but so-called epigenetic mechanisms influenced our development while we were still in the womb. Epigenetic mechanisms either modify our DNA, change how the DNA message is used, or provide chemical messengers that are not part of the DNA molecule. Epigenetic mechanisms include drugs taken during pregnancy (especially anti-seizure drugs) and environmental chemicals that your mother had absorbed. There are hundreds of these environmental chemicals that have been detected in pregnant women including chemicals like DDT which were banned long ago but are still in the ecosystem. We do not know which or if any of these environmental chemicals cause TSTG epigenetic effects but they are certainly candidate epigenetic mechanisms.
Many TSTG suspect that their TSTG resulted from their mothers taking the drug diethylstilbestrol (DES) which was mistakenly prescribed to avoid miscarriage between World War II and 1973. It is clear that DES causes modifications of DNA because its effects, such as certain cancers, persist at least through three generations. The CDC has a database of those exposed to DES and their offspring but they have never asked the people in this database whether they are TSTG. (I am working on this issue.)
So some of us are TSTG because of our DNA inheritance and some of us may be TSTG because of prenatal epigenetics but it is also possible that the two factors interact and both contribute to our TSTG. At least we know what factors are involved. The mechanisms should be discovered as the sciences of genetics and epigenetics mature. (I will review the evidence for/against other candidate factors in future posts.)
Dana J. Bevan holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University and a Bachelors degree from Dartmouth College, both in experimental psychology. She is the author of  The Transsexual Scientist which summarizes both her experience and her research on the causal factors involved in transgenderism and transsexualism. It is available from Amazon. She is a transitioning transsexual and can be reached at [email protected] and on twitter @danajbevan
Category: Transgender Body & Soul
About the Author (Author Profile)
Dana Jennett Bevan holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University and a Bachelors degree from Dartmouth College both in experimental psychology. She is the author of The Transsexual Scientist which combines biology with autobiography as she came to learn about transgenderism throughout her life. Her second book The Psychobiology of Transsexualism and Transgenderism is a comprehensive analysis of TSTG research and was published in 2014 by Praeger under the pen name Thomas E. Bevan. Her third book Being Transgender was released by Praeger in November 2016. She can be reached at [email protected].Subscribe
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Thanks for your comments.
1. As you will see in the next article, I define TSTG as an incongruity between one’s behavior or declaration of identity and the culturally-defined behavior category that one is assigned at birth, usually in alignment with one’s culturally defined sex. For TG the behavior is not continuous but for TS the behavior is more permanent. There is no good scientific evidence to separate TG from TS at this time because the behavior is the same.
2. TSTG know from an early age, usually about 4.
3. TSTG is a natural phenomena. It has been discovered in most cultures in one form or another. It is not pathological and understanding it helps some people feel better because they have information that contradicts the hate-mongers of this world, some of which use pseudoscience to make their arguments. I am opposed to eugenics and “cures”. We must make intelligent use of science and these uses are out of bounds. But we must continue the science to know the truth, rather than having to debunk pseudoscience which by its nature is deliberately hard to analyze.
4. Three genetic marker studies have been found that support the idea that TSTG is genetic, two for MTF and one for FTM. No one has yet done a full scan of the genome, so there are probably others. No markers have been found for homosexuality, despite two full scans of the genome and researchers in this area are concentrating on epigenetics right now.
5. We should all be entitled to our rights as humans and citizens, so activism is necessary when that does not happen.
Dr Bevan, this research report dating back to 2008 claims to have found the transsexual gene: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn15045-maletofemale-transsexualism-gene-found.html. Has there been any recent updates to this finding? I think that most of us would be interested to know the biological or social caustion factors for our condition, but agree with Graham that not to let us think there is a cure. We are what we are and we’re better off explaining to those less knowledgeable that we are no different than people having different color skins. Nothing you do is going to change it.
I too am concerned that some right wing radical group will use a scientific finding to further their own political agenda. We need to be activists in our own behalf.
Oh, now that’s interesting. When I pitched my earlier question, I was looking at this predominantly from a scientific viewpoint, and only incidentally from a crossdresser’s perspective. While I’d certainly be interested in anything that Dr Bevan’s research produces on the subject of crossdressing, I’m definitely NOT looking for a “reason I’m like I am” in an effort to ease my troubled mind. My mind isn’t the slightest bit troubled because I’m a crossdresser … but I do realise, of course, that I’m in the minority. We need to be careful, both as a group and as individuals, not to pin our hopes onto someone finding a reason for trans behaviour, because – while not directly criticising Dr Bevan – I fear the next step along this path will be some sort of cure. Unfortunately, I know from my time in local support networks that many deeply-closeted crossdressers so despise what they are that they’d give anything to be “cured”. That’s dangerous ground.
There is a precedent in homosexuality, of course, which is a couple of decades ahead of where we are. Gay “Torchwood” and one-time “Dr Who” star John Barrowman was the subject of a program on UK television some years ago, in which the source of his homosexuality was investigated. His brother is heterosexual, and this allowed a DNA comparison to be made in the search for a genetic marker which may predispose homosexuality … the so-called “gay gene”. At the end of the program, the specialist revealed that no such marker had been found, and I remember being quite surprised at the look of disappointment which flashed across Barrowman’s face. I’d thought he’d be a bit more accepting of his condition.
We are what we are, and it does none of us – whatever our genetic make-up – any good to sit around waiting for science to find a reason for any particular characteristic we dislike about ourselves, either so that we can make an excuse of our “being born this way”, or so that we can look forward to being “cured”; once such a “cure” becomes available, it’s all too easy for the will of the majority to win over, and for those “requiring” it to be forced into taking it. The increasing popularity of cosmetic surgery is evidence that more and more of us are choosing to “fix” what we don’t like about ourselves so that we can better fit in to society’s vision of “beauty”. But if you need a more disturbing example, consider the option of termination available in many countries to the prospective parents of physically- or mentally-handicapped foetuses. And if some sort of pre-natal marker for trans behaviour IS eventually found, should this be excised from the face of the planet too? Who has the right to make these decisions, based on a personal bias or bigotry?
Termination is the ultimate “cure” for any disease, and this is what the so-called “science” of eugenics is all about. In my opinion, eugenics is an insult to real science, and I personally find the whole concept to be morally repugnant.
So by all means take an interest in the ongoing scientific research into trans behaviours, but PLEASE don’t let yourself be governed by its findings. We’d be far better off doing whatever we can – as individuals and groups – to debunk the lies about crossdressing. In short, we should seek to change the public perception of crossdressing to make it “normal”, rather than seek to change ourselves to fit in with the public’s current limited perception of “normality”.
Hi Doctor Bevan,
I want to thank you so much for your genetic research into the the how’s and why’s of the TSTG condition. I am hoping that it will answer the questions that many of us may have.
I know that over the years, I have tried to find as much information for who I am. I read several discussions about the possibility of the DES factor. Also your inclusion of the so-called epigenetic mechanisms helps me better understand the possible how’s and why’s.
To give a very short background on myself, I was born in the early 50’s when DES was routinely prescribed. I also have a family that comes from a farming background that lived very close to oil refineries and chemical plants. I know that these unto themselves may not be the cause and effect but just the possibilities give me hope for an explination.
I look forward to reading more about your reseach.
Michelle
Hi Doctor Bevan,
I’d like to enlarge upon the question from Graham. I’ve felt for years that I was “born this way” but had no proof other than a hypothesis written by Anne Vitale. Since I was born with small genitalia and, as a teen, developed bilateral gynecomastia, I am facinated and relieved to know that such proof of a DNA TSTG transmitter has been found. Thank you for your research that will ease the troubled minds of millions who have been misjudged by society for generations.
Molly 1103
Hi Dana
You define TSTG, but you don’t distinguish between transsexual and transgender phenomena. Transsexualism is fairly-well defined, I think, but transgenderism is something of a wooly term, used differently by different people, and it needs to be properly defined in the scientific context if the results are to be meaningful.
In the strict sense of “gender”, crossdressers are the only true transgenderists – people who transgress the boundaries of gender without permanently changing their sex / sexual characteristics with chemicals or surgery. I accept that there’s a fine line between non-op trnssexuals and full-time crossdressers, but in most cases, a “trans” person knows what they are from an early age … even if society and the medical profession gets it wrong!
In the context specifially of crossdressing, I’ve often heard the expression “the peackock gene”, although I don’t know whether this allusion to a genetic basis for crossdressing comes from science or from a crossdresser wish-list! Does (or will) this research have anything to tell us about either a genetic or epigenetic predisposition for crossdressing, or does it assume (like Dr Vernon Coleman) that the activity is essentially a social phenomenon, where “born this way” has no meaning?