Klinefelter Syndrome
I was born with a condition called 47XXY. Essentially, I have 47 chromosomes where most people only have 46. It's a relatively common genetic anomaly affecting roughly 1:800 men. There's no set of definable physical traits that accompany klinefelter syndrome. Men who are affected either end up with a hodge-podge of traits or nearly none at all.
Klinefelter's is often associated with lower-than-normal testosterone, a lack of body hair, developmental speech and learning disorders, man-boobs, late puberty, unusual height, weight distribution around the lower-midsection, female-pattern pubic hair, underdeveloped testicles, wider hips, nipple sensitivity, narrow shoulders, and even sterility. Those are just my symptoms.
Thankfully, I didn't end up with early male pattern baldness or a complete inability to grow any facial hair. Also, most of the physical traits that accompany klinefelter's either disappear completely or become much less prominent by adulthood. I still look a lot younger than I actually am, I have narrow shoulders and slightly wider hips than most guys, but none of the other traits are nearly as noticeable anymore.
I didn't know what was wrong with me when I was young, and kids are some cruel mother f**kers. After getting beat up for having a speech impediment, I put on weight and got beat up for being fat and having boobs. I lost the weight, and I still got picked on because I was a few years late on puberty. Since then, I'm relatively over it. My voice dropped at age 17 and now I sound like a white Barry White or that homeless guy with the golden voice; and I have to admit that it's nice being 30-years-old and getting carded for cigarettes. The only thing that bothers me to this day is meeting other men with XXY and finding out they had kids. I know that sounds petty; perhaps jealous even, but realizing that I drew the short straw at birth kind of sucks.
Gender is a slide. It's not nearly as cut and dry as men and women. I'm not suggesting there's any association between klienfelter syndrome and transgenderism or transsexuality; only that they all work to prove that the classic idea of two genders or two states of gender is totally bull-pucky. As an interesting side debate, I wonder if all of the conservative Christian types realize that they've preformed plenty of marriages between men that weren't quite men and women who weren't quite women; so what's the debate on gay marriage again?
Comments
For a time, I did consider transition, but eventually arrived at the personal realization that I'm going to feel uncomfortable no matter how I identify. Besides, I've never felt like I was born into the wrong gender, just an overcomplicated body. It is insanely hard to come to terms - for two years I thought I was gay despite not being attracted to men and spent a year periodically crossdressing before I realized it didn't do a thing for my psyche. Most men with Klienfelter's go through the same trials of confusion, self-identification, and validation as I have and it's not surprising to me at all that nearly half of us do chose to transition.
Relationships are still a hurdle. I usually stick to dating bisexual women because in my experiences, straight women beat-feet just as soon as I have to explain my condition. To be honest, that hurts a lot more than any amount of name calling ever has; especially since the physical traits associated with 47XXY disapate after adulthood - it's nowhere nearly as obvious, but I still can't "pass" as a dude long-term; Before long, women end up wondering why I look funny naked or why my sex drive is nearly non-existant. That's hilarious considering that most cisgender women complain that men are sex-crazed and nearly emotionless. Thankfully, I've had a few normal long-term relationships mixed into the hodge-podge of short-lived bad experiences; they're just rare.