Causes of Transsexualism

The etiology of transsexualism, meaning the cause or causes of transsexualism, is an area of interest for many transgender and transsexual people, physicians, psychologists, other mental health professionals, and family members and friends of transsexual people. Transsexualism usually presents with an expression of gender identity different from the gender assigned at birth, behaviors typical of that gender, and discomfort called gender dysphoria. Currently, there are numerous scientific explanations of the cause of transsexualism, linking the cause to genetics, brain structure, brain function and prenatal androgen exposure; in addition, other theories have proposed linking the cause to psychological and behavioral reasons. These theories are not necessarily mutually exclusive.