Researchers have determined transgender individuals have sex hormone levels consistent with the gender they were born under.
These important findings could help researchers better analyze the safety and efficacy of treatments used to bring an individual's body closer to the gender they identify with and also provide insight into what causes the experience in the first place, the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles reported.
"We've now put to rest the residual belief that transgender experience is a result of a hormone imbalance," said researcher Johanna Olson."It's not."
To make their findings, the researchers looked at 101 transgender individuals between the ages of 12 and 24. The study sample was made up of patients assigned "male" at birth but who identify as transfeminine (51.5 percent) and individuals assigned "female" at birth but who identify as transmasculine (48.5 percent).
The participants generally reported having feelings of gender discrepancy starting around the age of eight, but did not tell their families about these feelings until an average age of 17.1 years.
Researchers believe keeping these strong feelings a secret for an extended period of time could have a negative impact on one's health. Thirty-five percent of the study participants struggled with depression within the clinical range, and over half of these individuals had considered suicide with about 30 percent having made at least one attempt.
"My goal is to move kids who are having a gender atypical experience from survive to thrive," Olson said. "With this study we hope to identify the best way to accomplish that."
The findings were published in a recent edition of the Journal of Adolescent Health.
