The Science Of Being Transgender

Recently we’ve been hearing a lot about transgender identity. That made us wonder… what makes us the gender that we are? And what should you do if your kid doesn’t fit the mold? To find out, we talked with endocrinologist Dr. Joshua Safer, psychologist Dr. Laura Edwards-Leeper, and psychologist Dr. Colt Keo-Meier.

Check out the transcript: http://bit.ly/31k0oNk

UPDATE 3/29/19 : An earlier version of this episode misinterpreted a study regarding the question of how many children who visited a gender identity clinic grow up to be trans. The episode has been updated accordingly. We've explained the change in detail in the transcript.

UPDATE 1/17/19: An earlier version of this episode implied that all people who are intersex are born with indeterminate genitalia. This is incorrect and the episode has been updated.

Selected references: 

A paper from the 70s about shock therapy A review of the science behind the trans kids debateBest Practice Standards of Care for Trans PeopleRebecca’s podcast Trans Specific PartnershipThanks to our sponsor, Cole Haan. You can hear more of Wendy and other Gimlet hosts in conversation at ExtraordinariesOnTheMic.com, produced in partnership with Cole Haan.

Credits:

This episode was produced by Odelia Rubin and Meryl Horn along with Wendy Zukerman and Rose Rimler. Our senior producer is Kaitlyn Sawrey. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Editorial assistance by Rebecca Kling. Fact checking by Michelle Harris, Meryl Horn and Rose Rimler. Mix and sound design by Emma Munger. Music by Emma Munger and Bobby Lord.  

A huge thanks to all the researchers we got in touch with for this episode - including Dr. Jack Turban, Professor Anne Fausto- Sterling, assistant professor Samantha Busa, Associate Professor Susan Stryker, Dr. Katrina Karkazis, Professor Neill Epperson, Paula Neira, Professor Michelle Forcier, and Professor Joan Roughgarden. And thanks to all the trans folks who shared their stories with us. Thank you! Also thanks to the Zukerman Family and Joseph Lavelle Wilson. 

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