OzTech wrote:It is my opinion the God, based upon male or female chromosomes, 'hard-wires' the minds of men and women to be male and female but they may, for reasons of there own, choose to attempt to pursue some other plan for their life.................
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For the sake of completeness on this, I would like to relate that in the matter of CAIS presented above. The brain of a developing baby regardless of XX or XY starts out taking on the distinctly female structure! (Yes there really are physically different sturcture in male and female brains!) Then, when the hormones kick in during the early development stages, the brain of the normal XY male undergoes some retrograde changes which actually cause shrinkage before additional growth overtakes the shrinkage issues (Please ladies not too many jokes about all men being brain damaged

) The end result is that male and female brains have more of some parts and less of others depending on gender but also individual developments. So the developing "mind" is influenced by variation of brain structure dependent on the gender. But in CAIS even the cells of the growing brain make changes on their reaction (or non reaction in CAIS) when the androgen hormones kick in. So then literally the CAIS women not only have Feminized bodies, but Feminized Brains to go with them.
As for developing infants with
Partial
Androgen
Insensitivity
Syndrome, PAIS, they can be expected to possibly have an intermediate brain formation. Now what exactly that does to the so called hard wiring of gender in the brain I do not have information.
Upon the failure to find a specific "Gay Gene" there has been attention devoted to hormones present during gestation, and There is some plausible theory put forward as to how the hormones actually present in the mother's body at various stages of pregnancy might play a part in the manifestation of gender. However, in the event that this comes into play, it is uncertain, and my own thoughts are probably closer to "How should such a person play out the hand that genes and hormones have dealt them?". I would think I can only favor the notion I would rather go with that it would be better to stick to living a life where I have to get my brain to accomodate a physically functioning body than to try to live a life where I have to live with a malfunctioning simulacrum of a body aligned with my brain. Intutively it seems the better and more practical course as I see the brain as the more naturally adaptable part of my physical being.
If the theory based on the mother's hormone profile during pregnancy has validity, then I am concerned that the "gender confused youth" may be vulnerable to being seduced into making some very wrong headed decisions depending on the counsel that they get. There then remains an issue of getting sound counsel for individuals, as the best course overall may not appear as the easiest !
I never met anyone that I could not learn something from.