Have you seen this story yet?

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/identical- ... d=15142268

What do you thing about it?

The little girl is really pretty. Do you think she should be made to wait?

Why is the first comment about her being pretty? If she was ugly, do you think she should be made to wait? does good looks make a person's gender-instinct and thus their gender-identity any more valid than someone who doesn't look pretty or pass?

[quote="Josh Goodman (imported)" tim

punkypink (imported) wrote: Thu Dec 15, 2011 10:03 pm e=1323927180]
The little girl is really

pretty. Do you think she should be made to wait?
[/quote]


That is explained in the article quite nicely. As time goes on, techniques for sexual re-assignment get better and better. She's had a taste of male puberty, and chose to continue living as a girl. So, she is taking testosterone blockers, and her puberty has already been influenced towards the female.

The doctor explained that it is best to leave the surgery as long as possible, for the best results. He even alluded that in the future, she might not even have to give up her natural fertility to finally become who she was born to be.

No doubt they could complete her reassignment surgery immediately, but that would not be in her best interests. Surgical techniques of this type are getting better all the time. Why should she settle for something substandard today, when in a few years she might have a surgery that is much less invasive, and much more satisfactory?

It sounds like she's lucky that her parents are about as supportive as can be expected, and that she had a chance to get puberty blocked. I've always felt sorry for the transgender people who only were able to embody their nature later in life and then have to work so hard at undoing everything.

In this case I wonder if the fact that she was a twin made it easier for the parents. First of all, identical twins are a little unnerving to begin with and so it might be psychologically fairly easy for the parents to embrace having one of them become truly distinct (yeah I know identical twins are unique in their own way, but you know what I mean). Also, it gives her more leeway because even if the parents are really hung up on having a son they still have that and now get a daughter. That might be easier for conservative parents than if their only son was transitioning. Lastly, having two kids allows each kid a bit more space -- if you've had kids you probably found that you give each successive kid a bit less attention than the first born

There were at least two papers on divergently gendered identical twins presented at the WPATH conference in Atlanta last September. There have been several sets of identical twins, both with XX chromosomes and with XY chromosomes, where one of them is transgendered and the other is not. One factor that is interesting about them is that the NON-transgendered twin is frequently homosexual. There was no mention in the article about the Maines twins, but one of them is MtF and the other is very possibly gay.

Study of such twins may help us toward understanding the causes of transgender. Understanding of causes may help with social acceptance of transgender as within the normal range of human variation.

Here is another story on the twins with more information,

http://bostonglobe.com/metro/2011/12/11 ... story.html

To answer punkypink's question, well yes. I'll admit it, I react differently to an attrative person than I would to an ugly person. If that makes me a bad person so be it. I'm a bad person. I will not argue otherwise.

"

Cainanite (imported) wrote: Thu Dec 15, 2011 10:31 pm As time goes on, techniques for sexual re-assignment get better and better.

" Maybe yes and maybe no. But that's besides the point. If you require medical treatment you're not going to say, I'll just put if off for 5, 6, or maybe 7 years just to give the doctors time to get their act together. You'll get the very best treatment you can today because you have the problem today. Just ask yourself this question. If you tried to schedule an appointment with your doctor and were told, "The doctor can't see you today, he's busy so you'll have to wait. But don't worry. The longer you wait the better the treatment will be." how would you react?

If I had it within my power, which I don't, I'd tell Nicole Maines "If you really want to be a girl we'll take you in to surgery tomorrow and make the change. If you don't want the operation, that's fine. But if you deside to keep your penis it's time to stop pretending to be a girl."

Wow thanks for expressing such trans unfriendly sentiments. "if you

Josh Goodman (imported) wrote: Fri Dec 16, 2011 2:13 pm keep your penis it's time to stop pretending to be a girl

". Yea thanks for saying that.

I'm sorry if that sounds harsh, but the kid has a penis and he has balls. What does that make him? A boy.

Wrong. What's between her ears, in her mind, makes her a girl. It's what she is, and what she lives, despite the birth defect between her legs.