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Gender identity disorder and anorexia nervosa in male monozygotic twins
Author(s) -
Hepp Urs,
Milos Gabriella,
BraunScharm Hellmuth
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
international journal of eating disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.785
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1098-108X
pISSN - 0276-3478
DOI - 10.1002/eat.10247
Subject(s) - gender identity disorder , psychology , anorexia nervosa , gender identity , sexual orientation , developmental psychology , identity (music) , orientation (vector space) , gender role , clinical psychology , eating disorders , social psychology , physics , geometry , mathematics , acoustics
Objective Male identical twins with gender identity disorder (GID) in childhood and anorexia nervosa (AN) are presented. Etiologic aspects and the relationship among gender identity, sexual orientation, body dissatisfaction, and AN are discussed. Method Case reports and a review of the literature are reported. Results In childhood, both twins showed an atypical gender behavior. Whereas one of the twins later developed a transsexual gender identity and asked for sex reassignment, the other developed a male identity but his appearance and clothing are effeminate. According to their biologic sex, they are concordant in regard to their homosexual orientation. In adolescence, both developed AN. Monozygotism was proved by DNA analysis. Discussion GID in childhood could be at least partly hereditary, whereas the development of the later phenotype of the gender identification is more determined by environmental factors. GID might be a risk factor for the development of AN. © 2004 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 35: 239–243, 2004.