The management of transsexualism.

Transsexualism is an extremely uncommon disorder of gender role. This article describes the backgrounds, modes of life and management of transsexuals. "The transsexual believes him(her)self to be a female (ormale) in the body of a male(female)." The name is given to a very small number of men (and an even smaller number of women) who, although they are outwardly physically male (or female), are irrevocably convinced that their entire personality and identity are those of the opposite sex. They therefore feel that they ought to have their bodies changed to agree with the intensity and conviction of their feelings. Because this condition is so uncommon (having a prevalence of about one in 20,000 of the population), very few doctors ever meet any transsexuals, particularly as most of them live in only a few areas. In this article I will be mainly discussing the male transsexual, and will mention the female transsexual briefly afterwards. Transvestites and transsexuals are sometimes confused but can usually be differentiated. Basically the difference between them is that transvestites merely dress in female attire, whereas transsexuals feel that the sex organs are objects of hatred or disgust; they therefore persistently request a sex reassignment (sex change) operation in order to rid themselves of these organs.