Gender Identity Disorder : a Case Report*

The aetiology of transsexualism is not yet clearly understood. Stoller's studies (1970) on psychoanalytical lines postulate that by encouraging every sign of gracefulness, delicacy, unaggressiveness and interest in feminine ways the mother re-inforces her son's advance towards femininity. Hamburg (1971) among others has suggested that hormonal factors operating on the foetal brain during the critical period of sex differentiation in intrauterine life might determine the behaviour and interest appropriate or inappropriate to the gender of the individual. An immunological aetiology of transsexualism has been suggested very recently. Hoenig (1983) refers to a German study on 61 transsexuals for the presence of H-Y antigen in their cells. 87.8% of the males and 89.2% of the females showed abnormal results. This and similar other findings are, however, yet to be explained convincingly (Hoenig 1983).