title: Growth into manhood: identity development among female-to-male transgender youth.
abstract: This study aims to understand the process by which female-to-male transgender young people come to identify as transgender through in-depth interviews with 13 self-identified female-to-male transgender youth. A grounded theory was created of the process that young people go through in coming to identify as transgender. We identified three stages: (1) a growing sense of gender: school, puberty, sexuality and exposure to diverse gender options impact upon each young person's sense of his own gender; (2) recognition of transgender identity: a young person experiences a growing sense of discomfort with his female birth gender and comes to recognise himself as transgender; and (3) social adjustment: after becoming aware of himself as transgender, a young person adapts to life as a male. Although individual experiences may vary, understanding the typical trajectory of the female-to-male transgender experience can help inform appropriate health care and support services.
authors: Joint Medical Program, University of California, Berkeley and University of California-San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors: Lealah
authors: L
authors: Pollock
authors: Stephen L
authors: SL
authors: Eyre
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D012495:San Francisco; D012649:Self Concept; D014189:Transsexualism / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult