Psychologists wonder why people identify as transgender.
A German psychologist who treated trans kids came up with wild opinions stating that:
-) Kids become trans because they have watched too many YouTube videos about transgender people.
-) Kids become trans because it is trendy and they can get recognition this way.
-) Kids become trans because they were infected by others–as if trans was some kind of contagious disease.
-) Kids become trans because they rather want to be trans than have the stigma of being homosexual.
-) Kids become trans because they are rather diagnosed with gender dysphoria than with the label of a mental disease.
Wild speculations aside, why do people become transgender?
Is it just a delusion in their mind? Something like a mental disease that can be treated?
As it turns out, there is a scientific fact that shows that being trans is not just some wishful thinking or insane belief happening in the mind. No, there is some neurobiological structure in the physical brain that correlates with being trans.
In this video clip (6 min), Stanford professor Robert Sapolsky explains the neurobiology of transidentity (the first part is about homosexual people, and the second part about transidentity starts at 2:28):
https://youtu.be/rIULZOLS4BM?feature=shared&t=147
There is a certain region in the brain that is different in men than in women. If that structure in the brain has the male form, then the person feels they are male—even if their body has all the female signs, and vice versa.
So, “feeling male” is not just some feeling in the mind without any neurobiological basis. No, there is some real, physical structure in the brain–something that can be seen and measured–that correlates with whether someone identifies as male or female. And maybe it is not just a correlation. I assume that the brain structure is the cause for the gender incongruity.
One of the studies he refers to in the video is this paper in Nature: “A sex difference in the human brain and its relation to transsexuality” by Jiang-Ning Zhou, Michel A. Hofman, Louis J. G. Gooren & Dick F. Swaab, published in 1995 (https://www.nature.com/articles/378068a0).
An excerpt from the abstract: “Our study is the first to show a female brain structure in genetically male transsexuals and supports the hypothesis that gender identity develops as a result of an interaction between the developing brain and sex hormones . . . .”
The original study was published in 1995. Robert Sapolsky’s lecture with the snippet on the neurobiology of trans is from 2011. Only recently, in 2024, did I come across this short lecture excerpt. And I was mind blown.
Had I only known that there is a neurobiological basis for being trans already back in 2016-2019 when my trans son had his transition, things might have been a bit easier for us. I can only imagine what I could have answered to all those people who told me that my child is only trans because they are in puberty / because they want attention / because there must have been some childhood trauma etc..
But would the skeptics have listened? Maybe. Maybe not. Some people are so entrenched in their beliefs that they do not accept scientific evidence.
***
This post is part of an online book about my journey with feminism and my son’s transgender journey. You can access the table of contents with links to each chapter here: TOC.
Spiritual Awakening 
I believe that it’s possible that a person has the feeling of being in the “wrong body”.. yet, nowadays, like never before, people feel the need of reclaiming this, and probably it is also linked, somehow, to the huge spread of this phenomenon in any media possible. I’m not saying that they don’t feel that way, but a kid is very “manipulable”, and if they are taught to feel in a certain way, they will.
Beyond this sort of discomfort, another risk lies: when they grow up, they might experience an identity crisis, because their mind can change during the years, and make them feel “stranger” again in their own bodies. Once you change your body, then you can’t go back. The more you lose yourself and your sense of belonging, the more you are likely to feel lonely, lost and misunderstood. And mental health crisis is a phenomenon worldwide underestimated.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for sharing your point of view.
It can be true that there is a link between the huge number of trans people and the spread in the media. But I think it is not because the media somehow would persuade the people that they might be trans. It is more because it is easier to be informed about this phenomenon and find like-minded people who are feeling the same issues. I could watch as many documentaries on trans as I wanted, but I still would not think that I am a trans man because of this.
Regarding the feeling of being a stranger again in their own bodies when growing up, yes, there is the phenomenon of detransitioning. These people exist, but they are rare.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I see what you mean, and I see you are deeply aware of yourself, which is great. Unfortunately, not everyone is so strong, and I’m not sure that a greater amount of information leads to a greater awareness. It always depends on how a person is affected by those data. A lot of people are very much manipulable, and age isn’t the only factor. It can depend on several reasons. I’m not saying that all the trans people are manipulated, but I wonder if this phenomenon nowadays is so widespread only beacuse, somehow, it seems “normal”. I hope I won’t be misunderstood. I believe that each of us has the right to make an aware decision about their own identity. I’m just wondering about this level of awareness. and kids very often aren’t.. not because they are stupid, but only because they are young, too young to make a conscious choice like this. Some of them surely feel stranger in their bodies.. though I’m not sure that these cases are as many as it seems. I’m afraid that a lot of them are just victims of a mindset that leads them to feel that way.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I see your concern. You think some people become trans because it is talked about widely in the media.
I do not know why the phenomenon is so widespread these days. But I don‘t think it is because of the media.
Being trans and coming out as trans and going through the transitioning process is such a tremendous hassle that most people would not do that just because it seems fashionable. No, it is more like an inner urge that absolutely has to be followed. In a video by a trans woman I recently came across, she expressed it as something like that: „the inner call to authenticity was about as subtle as the alarm of a smoke detector.“
So, it is the inner urge to authenticity that demands to be followed. Many people who are trans try to ignore and suppress the feeling in the beginning. Only after it persists as subtle as a smoke-detector alarm, they will have their coming out.
I have heard of kids as young as three or four years old. They were so young that they had no contact with media and youtube yet. And yet, they stated firmly that they were in the wrong body. And after some struggle with their parents, they eventually were allowed to dress as they wanted to when they went to pre-school.
Those who come out as trans because they are „just victims of a mindset that leads them to feel that way“, as you expressed it, would usually realize later that they made the wrong decision and would then detransition. These cases happen. But they are rare.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for explaining, I imagine it’s a challenging process to go through and I hope that every person that chooses it, makes it in a conscious way. No doubt it’s a very delicate theme.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is not true transgender people have been around long before you tube was popular. All of this happened in the womb while a woman is carrying a child
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for your comment. Yes, transgender people have been around long before YouTube. I watched the movie The Danish Girl about a trans woman around 1920. Their path was much harder than these days. No exchange with other trans people. Nobody who knew how to treat it.
Yes, I also assume that it happens pre-birth in the womb. In addition, I think that it is part of a pre-birth plan.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Just as much as a gay or a lesbian also happens in the womb. My oldest daughter is a twin and she absorb her twin sister while she was in my womb and I loss the rest of my daughter before I gave birth and she is missing chromosome and she is neither male or female, she is medically complicated with many rare diseases as well as adrenal cancer, my daughter has extra organs that would of been her sister as well as two sets of DNA in parts of her body. I just wish people in general will just accept them as there are because this is something no one would choose if they could.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for sharing that. I knew that your daughter was intersex, but I wasn‘t aware that she had absorbed her twin sister before birth. Yes, it would be great if the knowledge about this could be more widely accepted.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is informative and it reveals to me that we should believe transgender people when they tell us who they are and how they might want their bodies to match this identity. I hope more people can learn about the science behind this, so they have more backing by society.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you for commenting. Yes, this scientific foundation strongly suggests that we should believe transgender people. I also hope that this knowledge spreads more. I wonder why it took me so long to come across this video snippet.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow! So fascinating!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you. Yes, I also found it fascinating. And I wonder why it took me so long to come across this short video.
LikeLiked by 1 person
When I looked up Robert Sapolsky, I found a video that was streamed only a month ago on the same topic. It’s longer (I haven’t watched it) but if you’re at all interested, https://www.youtube.com/live/dGBYYcH7CS8?si=RAkpjoI7nJA1oN67. I have a friend whose daughter is transgender and I sent her the video you shared.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much for the link. I will have a look at it.
And I am glad to hear that you shared this video with your friend. I hope the knowledge will be spread widely.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I‘ve watched the other Sapolsky video you linked to.
It is an interview by an association for the support of teachers in South Carolina.
The topics are the neurobiology of trans as well as other topics,
like that it is better and more compassionate to find out
about dyslexia and treat it than to just label the dyslexic kids as lazy.
Thanks again for sharing the link.
LikeLiked by 1 person