Homework

A lot of people mention it, but you rarely see it. Sure, there was a study on the brains of transsexuals and there have been other transsexual related studies such as regret and so forth, but not many studies have been done in general.

Of course, one of the general hurdles of any study involving medical histories is the privacy of all of it, with the grandest hurdle finding anyone that will fund a study on transsexuals.

My health care provider, Kaiser, though, is undertaking a huge research study on genetics. This article from last year outlined the initial study, and earlier this year they sent out questionnaires for potential participants. I received the questionnaire and recently got another notice that they'll be sending out the packet for me to either donate blood or a buccal swab (recent press release on topic).

It's an interesting study, and although there are always privacy risks (not to mention dealing with having the stupid Y chromosome pop up for a female), I think the benefits of the huge database for the future of health care outweigh the potential negative effects of any data being used for evil purposes. Kaiser has treated me well, and I figure this helps give back to the general medical community...especially when they are potentially using some of the stuff we do at my company.

Perhaps one day, Kaiser can string together some of the genetic analysis of their transgender patients and find something that helps in our care. Yes, I know there are the downsides of spotting genetic markers on people...and having false positives, or positive negatives...but you never know what they might find to lend either favorable validity or care.