By Anonymous MD
Editor's Note: This article is an updated version of a previously published piece by Anonymous MD that makes use of footnotes. Scroll to the bottom to see the references.
I am a physician, a husband, and a father. I am a religious man; my faith is at the very center of my life. I am fiscally conservative and believe in evidence-based, small-government solutions to problems. I subscribe to objectivist philosophy (as popularized by Ayn Rand). I find the main reason for the increased cost of care and the lack of access to it to be third-party interference, either from insurance companies or from the government.
Given this background, it may be surprising to learn of my unusual medical history. I was identified as a female at birth and subsequently raised as a girl. As a junior in college, I completed a gender transition, going through male puberty and having gender confirmation surgery to allow me to live as the man I always was.
Gender dysphoria is the condition of having distress associated with a strong identification with the opposite gender as one’s assigned sex at birth. It is a complex disorder. I have a unique perspective on the issue, and it is my hope that by sharing it I might encourage others to think critically about this incredibly controversial and politicized topic. In my opinion, we should ignore the politics and focus instead on the science and the patient. So let’s start with some medical definitions.
“Intersex” disorders, or disorders/differences of sexual development, are conditions whereby individuals have genitals, chromosomes, hormones, or reproductive organs that don’t fit into the male/female sex binary. The existence of those with “intersex” disorders presents a challenge to those who say that the physical features you are born with and your chromosomes will determine your gender. There are a large number of disorders of sexual development that lead to differences in physical and hormonal presentations. However, people with these disorders may identify as either male or female, without regard to their chromosomes or physical features. This phenomenon leads to the logical conclusion that the brain is the most important sex organ in the body.