ABSTRACT
This chapter describes male childhood transsexualism, a clear-cut, potentially malignant personality disorder which has not previously been identified, although it has undoubtedly been observed. Adult male transsexualism is a rare condition in which a man who has been very feminine all his life feels he is truly a woman and a female, and wishes his body to be “corrected” so that it anatomically approximates a female’s. The little boy who is transsexual, like the adult, is fully identified with the woman’s role, has as many feminine mannerisms, interests, and fantasies as a little girl his age, and openly expresses wishes to have his body turn into a female’s. The differential diagnosis of male transsexualism includes all states in which feminine identification in males is expressed by cross-dressing: occasional transvestic behavior in little boys and men who are not transvestites, effeminate homosexuality, transvestism, transsexualism, and childhood transsexualism.
