The Biological Contributions to Gender Identity and Gender Diversity: Bringing Data to the Table

Polderman, Tinca J. C.; Kreukels, Baudewijntje P.C.; Irwig, Michael S.; Beach, Lauren B.; Chan, Yee-Ming; Derks, Eske M.; Esteva, Isabel; Ehrenfeld, Jesse M.; Heijer, Martin den; Posthuma, Daniëlle; Raynor, Lewis A.; Tishelman, Amy C.; Davis, Lea K.

doi:10.1007/s10519-018-9889-z

Cited by 108 publications

(86 citation statements)

References 91 publications

(82 reference statements)

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“…Polderman et al (2018) found that heritability estimates across the 11 studies covered a wide range – from around 35% for MZ twin correlations to half that for the DZ twin correlations. Some found similar figures for male- and female-assigned twins.…”

Section: What Is the Evidence For Biological Factors In The Developmementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Overall, there appeared to be a negligible role for shared environmental factors and a small potential role for unique environmental factors. The authors of the review concluded that it is sensible to ‘hypothesize that gender identity is a multifactorial complex trait with a heritable polygenic component’ (Polderman 2018, p. 95).…”

Section: What Is the Evidence For Biological Factors In The Developmementioning

confidence: 99%

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Can evolutionary thinking shed light on gender diversity?

Wren

Launer²,

Reiß

et al. 2019

BJPsych advances

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SUMMARYIssues of sexual reproduction lie at the core of evolutionary thinking, which often places an emphasis on how individuals attempt to maximise the number of successful offspring that they can produce. At first sight, it may therefore appear that individuals who opt for gender-affirming medical interventions are acting in ways that are evolutionarily disadvantageous. However, there are persuasive hypotheses that might make sense of such choices in evolutionary terms and we explore these here. It is premature to claim knowledge of the extent to which evolutionary arguments can usefully be applied to issues of gender identity, although worth reflecting on the extent to which nature tends towards diversity in matters of sex and gender. The importance of acknowledging and respecting different views in this domain, as well as recognising both the uncertainty and likely multiplicity of causal pathways, has implications for clinicians. We make some suggestions about how clinicians might best respond when faced with requests from patients in this area.LEARNING OBJECTIVESAfter reading this article you will be able to: •understand evolutionary arguments about diversity in human gender identity•identify strengths and weaknesses in evolutionary arguments applied to transgender issues•appreciate the range and diversity of gender experience and gender expression among people who present to specialist gender services, as well as the likely complexities of their reasons for requesting medical intervention.

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Section: What Is the Evidence For Biological Factors In The Developmementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: What Is the Evidence For Biological Factors In The Developmementioning

confidence: 99%

Can evolutionary thinking shed light on gender diversity?

Wren

Launer²,

Reiß

et al. 2019

BJPsych advances

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Gender dysphoria (GD) describes a distressing mismatch between one's gender identity and natal sex (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Not much is known about the origin of GD (Meyer-Bahlburg, 2013), but twin studies show that genetic factors play a substantial role (for a review, see Polderman et al, 2018). Also, prenatal testosterone (T) might have an effect on GD.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

2D:4D Suggests a Role of Prenatal Testosterone in Gender Dysphoria

et al. 2020

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Gender dysphoria (GD) reflects distress caused by incongruence between one's experienced gender identity and one's natal (assigned) gender. Previous studies suggest that high levels of prenatal testosterone (T) in natal females and low levels in natal males might contribute to GD. Here, we investigated if the 2D:4D digit ratio, a biomarker of prenatal T effects, is related to GD. We first report results from a large Iranian sample, comparing 2D:4D in 104 transwomen and 89 transmen against controls of the same natal sex. We found significantly lower (less masculine) 2D:4D in transwomen compared to control men. We then conducted random-effects meta-analyses of relevant studies including our own (k = 6, N = 925 for transwomen and k = 6, N = 757 for transmen). In line with the hypothesized prenatal T effects, transwomen showed significantly feminized 2D:4D (d ≈ 0.24). Conversely, transmen showed masculinized 2D:4D (d ≈ − 0.28); however, large unaccounted heterogeneity across studies emerged, which makes this effect less meaningful. These findings support the idea that high levels of prenatal T in natal females and low levels in natal males play a part in the etiology of GD. As we discuss, this adds to the evidence demonstrating the convergent validity of 2D:4D as a marker of prenatal T effects.

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“…Several studies support a genetic component in GD (35,36). In a literature review of twin studies, including unpublished cases from specialized centers, it was possible to show a significantly higher concordance for GD among monozygotic twins than among samesex dizygotic twins (37,38).…”

Section: Etiological Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

MANAGEMENT OF ENDOCRINE DISEASE: Approach to the management of children and adolescents with Gender Dysphoria

Martinerie

Condat

Bargiacchi

et al. 2018

European Journal of Endocrinology

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Over the past 20 years, the care for transgender adolescents has developed throughout many countries following the "Dutch Approach" initiated in the 90's in pioneer countries as the Netherlands, United States and Canada, with increasing numbers of children and adolescents seeking care in transgender clinics. This medical approach has considerable positive impacts on the psychological outcomes of these adolescents and several studies have been recently published underlining the relative safety of such treatments. This paper reviews the current standards of care for transgender children and adolescents with particular emphasis on disparities among countries and short to medium-term outcomes. Finally it highlights ethical considerations regarding categorization of gender dysphoria, timing of treatment initiation, infertility, and how to deal with the long-term consequences.

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The Biological Contributions to Gender Identity and Gender Diversity: Bringing Data to the Table

Cited by 108 publications

References 91 publications

Can evolutionary thinking shed light on gender diversity?

Can evolutionary thinking shed light on gender diversity?

2D:4D Suggests a Role of Prenatal Testosterone in Gender Dysphoria

MANAGEMENT OF ENDOCRINE DISEASE: Approach to the management of children and adolescents with Gender Dysphoria

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