Gender Dysphoria in Adults

Gender dysphoria refers to a marked incongruence between one’s gender identity and assigned sex at birth with the dissatisfaction occurring for at least six consecutive months. Gender dysphoria is manifested in various ways including strong and persistent desires to become the desired gender (e.g., adopting mannerism or dressing in clothing of the opposite gender), or to eliminate primary and secondary sex characteristics of one’s assigned sex at birth (e.g., wishing to remove genitalia). While transgender refers to individuals who are gender non-conforming (e.g., genderqueer, cross-dresser), individuals who experience gender dysphoria are referred to as transsexual; they wish to live and to fully embrace, the gender role of their desired gender.