Male and female transsexuals: a comparison.

The aim of this study is to describe and compare the characteristics of 320 male and 130 female transsexuals in Singapore. The subjects were given a semistructured psychiatric interview. The results showed that the males were slightly younger, had less education and held lower level jobs. Their occupational preferences were reversed. The male transsexuals started petting, sexual intercourse and having partners about one to two years earlier, but they cross-dressed four to seven years later. Both males and females were homosexually orientated. Other studies showed that late maternal age was associated with homosexuality, but not with transsexualism. These studies also confirmed that transsexualism had its onset in early childhood, and that cross-dressing was an early feature. The Singapore 'transsexuals went through a "homosexual" and a "transvestite" phase before they became a transsexual. Western transsexuals exhibited both homosexual and heterosexual behaviour, and some were married to the opposite sex partners. Male prostitution was reported in many studies.