Malaysia
— There have been medical studies done which
show that one of the reasons for someone being
transsexual is biological and there are tests that can be
done to determine that.
This was disclosed by
consultant clinical andrologist Dr Mohd Is-mail Mohd
Tambi who also provides counselling to individuals with
issues concerning sexual identity at his
clinic.
He said that in studies
done by endocrinologist Prof L.J.G. Gooren who is an
expert in Gender Studies and Gender Reassignment
Programmes at Vrije University in Amsterdam, Netherlands,
magnetic resonance imaging scans of the brain showed
differences between men and transsexuals.
"Scan of the hypothalamus
(the region at the base of the brain of which a part is
involved in sexual behaviours) show that a part of it is
bigger in males by 44% than in females. But for a
transsexual male the scan will reveal that it follows the
size of a female's. The reverse is true for transsexual
females."
Other scientists have
authenticated the study internationally, he told The
Star.
Dr Mohd Ismail said that
Prof Gooren's study also showed that the process of
sexual orientation (one's realisation of one's gender)
was complex and the physical changes were usually early
and the mental changes usually came later.
It was usually during
adolescence that transsexuals would want to be close to
the gender of their choice, he said.
"They do not decide on
their gender overnight. The process is complicated and
dynamic. It is influenced by the sex determinant genes,
testosterones and hormones, environmental factors and the
mental changes in the hypothalamus," said Dr Mohd
Ismail.
He said he had spent two
weeks at the Gender Clinic of the Free University in
Amsterdam in 2001, where he learnt of the studies by Prof
Gooren.
The studies also said
there was a possibility that one in every 15,000 males
and one in every 35,000 females were
transsexual.
Dr Mohd Ismail cited his
own paper which he presented four years ago at a local
counselling seminar in which he said that counselling was
a must as there were many individuals who were confused
about their sexual identity and might not actually be
transsexuals.
He added that if they
were transsexuals they needed to be provided with avenues
to be reassigned in terms of gender according to the laws
of the country.
