Female-to-male transsexuals and their partners

This paper reviews briefly the literature on gender disorders, that is transsexualism in females. Forty-one female-to-male transsexuals and twenty-one female partners of these patients were evaluated in the Gender Identity Clinic at the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry. The authors report on the type of behaviour patterns with particular reference to the kind of relationship the patients form with their partners. These seem to be stable, long-term relationships, though both the transsexual and his partner have had considerable sexual experience prior to forming this relationship. Contrary to what other workers report, these transsexuals wish to parent children and indeed frequently chose partners who already had children. The authors speculate on the reasons why a normal biological female would choose a "penis-less man" as a partner and form a long-term enduring relationship with him.