A new study suggests that transgender women – women who identify as biologically male – suffer from menopausal symptoms after taking testosterone.
Studies have shown that women who attempt medical transition with cross-sex hormones in their 20s experience symptoms such as incontinence, sexual dysfunction, and even bedwetting. Published The study was published last month in the International Journal of Urology and Gynecology and was led by researchers at the Federal University of Pernambuco in Brazil.
The researchers studied 68 transgender women taking testosterone, ranging in age from as young as 18 to an average age of 28.
The study found that more than 94% of women who identify as transgender experience some type of pelvic floor dysfunction.
Approximately 87% Experienced Urinary symptoms such as incontinence, frequent toilet use, including at night, and bedwetting.
Women taking testosterone are about three times more likely to suffer from urinary incontinence or leaking urine than those not taking the drug, and about 25% of women who identify as transgender suffer from the condition, compared with 8% of other women, the study found.
Approximately 74% of women had intestinal problems such as constipation, inability to hold a bowel movement, or bloating.
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Other symptoms include a burning sensation and difficulty urinating or defecating.
Meanwhile, more than half of the women (53%) also experienced sexual dysfunction, with around half suffering from “orgasm disorder” and a quarter suffering from painful intercourse.
Elaine Miller, a pelvic health physiotherapist who has worked with around 20 transgender people, said bladder problems were embarrassing and had a serious impact on these young people’s lives.
“Many women are perfectly fine up until menopause and then start leaking, and it appears that this trajectory is the same for women who take transgender hormones, but there hasn’t been much research done on this,” Miller says. Said Telegraph.
“Wetting yourself is socially unacceptable – it can affect your ability to exercise, have intimate relationships, travel and even your career,” she says. “Even a little bit of leakage can have a huge impact on young people’s lives. This issue needs to be discussed properly in gender clinics, because almost 100% of women who take transgender hormones will end up suffering from these problems.”
Miller added that some women said they were not informed of these risks at gender clinics.
“It makes me really sad when I hear people say, ‘No one told me that.’ I should have been informed of the risks at the gender clinic,” she told the outlet.
