Did a search and could find no references to Diethylstilbestrol - DES, so thought there may be some value in starting a thread.
wikipedia wrote:
From about 1940 to 1971, DES was given to pregnant women in the mistaken belief it would reduce the risk of pregnancy complications and losses.
The same article goes on to state:
wikipedia wrote:
Research investigating the possible behavioral and psychosexual effects of prenatal DES exposure in human males occurred as early as 1973. This research has centered on a long-standing question of whether prenatal exposure to DES in offspring of mothers who were prescribed DES may have included sexual orientation and gender-related behavioral effects and physical intersex conditions. Kaplan published the first-known medical study (1959) of intersex condition in a male prenatally-exposed to DES.
The reference source Dictionary of Organic Compounds, 6th edition (1996) lists diethylstilbestrol (pp. 2175–76) as a nonsteroidal estrogen with carcinogenic properties that "causes male impotence and transsexual changes, especially in offspring exposed in utero".
There is some evidence linking prenatal hormonal influences on sexual orientation, gender identity and transsexual development, but this is an area of behavioral research that remains controversial. Several published studies in the medical literature on psychoneuroendocrinology have examined the hypothesis that prenatal exposure to estrogens (including DES) may cause significant developmental impact on sexual differentiation of the brain, and on subsequent behavioral and gender identity development in exposed males and females.
One of the leading investigators of this area of research is June Reinisch, former director of the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction. Reinisch cited several cases of "male feminization" among prenatally DES-exposed males.
Dr. Scott Kerlin, a major DES research scientist and founder of the DES Sons International Research Network in 1996, has documented for the past 20 years a high prevalence of individuals with confirmed prenatal DES exposure who self-identify as male-to-female transsexual, transgender, or have intersex conditions, and many individuals who report a history of experiencing difficulties with gender dysphoria.
Could be worth discussing. Whilst I can't be 100% sure, I know that my mother had some difficulties carrying my elder sister, so extremely high probability that she would have been prescribed diethylstilbestrol whilst pregnant with me.
Alison
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Rev Mother Bene Gesserit
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10 Mar 2018, 9:31 pm
