RE: FW: Gender identity study

["Nancy Toby" <nancytoby comcast net>]

I guess my questions about the study (without reading the original article)
would center around what exactly they mean by such phrases as:
"raised as boys"
"raised as girls"
"dressed like girls"
"acted like a boy"
And so on. My antennae go up when I hear phrases like this - but I assume
this phrasing is from the author of this popular account, not the actual
study authors.

Do any of our academic subscribers have access to the New England Journal 
of
Medicine online articles? Here's the online abstract from
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/350/4/333

Discordant Sexual Identity in Some Genetic Males with Cloacal Exstrophy
Assigned to Female Sex at Birth

William G. Reiner, M.D., and John P. Gearhart, M.D.      
  
ABSTRACT

Background Cloacal exstrophy is a rare, complex defect of the entire pelvis
and its contents that occurs during embryogenesis and is associated with
severe phallic inadequacy or phallic absence in genetic males. For about 25
years, neonatal assignment to female sex has been advocated for affected
males to overcome the issue of phallic inadequacy, but data on outcome
remain sparse. 

Methods We assessed all 16 genetic males in our cloacal-exstrophy clinic at
the ages of 5 to 16 years. Fourteen underwent neonatal assignment to female
sex socially, legally, and surgically; the parents of the remaining two
refused to do so. Detailed questionnaires extensively evaluated the
development of sexual role and identity, as defined by the subjects'
persistent declarations of their sex. 

Results Eight of the 14 subjects assigned to female sex declared themselves
male during the course of this study, whereas the 2 raised as males 
remained
male. Subjects could be grouped according to their stated sexual identity.
Five subjects were living as females; three were living with unclear sexual
identity, although two of the three had declared themselves male; and eight
were living as males, six of whom had reassigned themselves to male sex. 
All
16 subjects had moderate-to-marked interests and attitudes that were
considered typical of males. Follow-up ranged from 34 to 98 months. 

Conclusions Routine neonatal assignment of genetic males to female sex
because of severe phallic inadequacy can result in unpredictable sexual
identification. Clinical interventions in such children should be 
reexamined
in the light of these findings. 

Source Information

>From the Departments of Psychiatry (W.G.R.) and Urology (W.G.R., J.P.G.),
Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore. 

Address reprint requests to Dr. Reiner at the Department of Urology, WP
3150, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, 920 S.L. Young Blvd.,
Oklahoma City, OK 73104.


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Nancy Toby, Arlington, Virginia * nancytoby comcast net