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My dad was telling me about a health report he saw on the news where scientists have found a link between Similac Baby Formula and GID in babies born biologically male. I have looked for info on it, but I haven't found anything. Has anyone else? According to what my dad was saying, the Similac contained high levels of Estrogen and it caused the body not to produce Testosterone by severely stunting testicular size and making the brain develop as a female. Here is where I am skeptical, he also said that the Gender identity in the brain was reversed by giving shots of Testosterone to those affected babies later in life. I personally think that it might be a wishful thinking scenario brought up by parents who are dead set against their child identifying as a girl. I was trying to get the point across to my dad that even if there is some truth to it, I do not plan to ever return to living as a male PERIOD! This girl is here to stay!
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I find it difficult to believe...
In the first place, all babies spend the first nine months of their lives swimming in oestrogen, so by that logic every male baby should have some sort of Gender Disorder, and breast-fed babies (all of us if you go back a hundred years) ought properly to be the same, one would think. And then you have the uncomfortable fact that the so-called "problem" with Similac is that it uses soy milk, in which case almost everyone in Asia who uses tofu and other soy products ought to have GID as well. But none of these things have happened, as far as we know, and the only people worried about Similac are new parents, who also worry about dust and blowing leaves.
Puddin'
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Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
First Trimemester
Um, I thought that the "Testosterone Flood" started in the first Trimester, and that is what makes us little outies?
Gwendolyn
The so-called "testosterone flood"...
...is generated from the foetus, not the mother. The mother goes right on producing oestrogen and progesterone, both of which increase during pregnancy. That the male foetus may perceive his internal reality as a general flood affecting the known universe is solipsism, not physiology.
It's true that there appear to be some factors in modern life which appear to elevate maternal testosterone levels, possibly environmental and chemical insults to the human endocrine system, but this is not at all good for babies, and results in lower birth weight, lesser birth length, and an increased tendency to autism, probably due to disorders of brain development.
Contrary to male fantasy, being "flooded" by maternal testosterone makes you wimpy and a little bit nuts*.
Puddin'
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* Sorry, couldn't resist the pun...
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Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
Doubt Similac Has Anything To Do With It
There are more serious endocrine disrupters, e.g. phthalates, in soft plastics used in baby bottles, teething rings and pacifiers/dummies/soothers than the phytoestrogens occurring in any soy component of baby formula.
I'm not any sort of expert on fetal or child development, but I think most of the determinative process to do with gender identity is pretty much done with after the child is born, which if true, lets Similac off the hook, unless the mother is drinking it during pregnancy.
Post-natal problems with endocrine disrupters such as phthalates are theorized to possibly include declining fertility, growth disruption, early or late puberty, cancer, and secondary sex characteristics.
Post Natal?
I talked to a Doctor a few years ago who said that the statistical rate of deviation around the so called gender norm has been constant for millions of years. She says that gender problems, and many other problems happen not just with humans but with most other forms of life also. So, in a manner of speaking GID is the normal development for a certain cross section of life. I never saw anything like that on the farm, aside from Cows trying to hump other Cows and such. Of course, intersex and other conditions like that are very rare, so in a herd of 1000 Cows maybe you'd see one, and then you might not because there are certain calves that the mom just will not nurse.
In the marsh lands of southern Iraq, there are tribes who have dealt with it by simply allowing girls who want to be boys and visa versa to just do it. They are not allowed to switch back and forth.
The biggest problem seems to arise when a group of nut cases think they have a good bead on things and try to force their ideas on the rest of us.
There is something going on with this T folk at least. I have tried to go back to living line a man twice, the first time I made it several hours. The second time, my Therapist told me that it would be extremely dangerous for me to try it, especially with me flying out to Norfolk, Va to see my son. She feels that I would off myself on the trip, and very reluctantly, I agree. So, I guess no pants for me, eh?
Gwendolyn
What's wrong with pants?
All four of us wear them (Spouse, both daughters and myself), in fact my older daughter and I wear the same brand. I find I don't mind them at all, when it's below freezing outside. :-)
I kninda think Pants are fine for us... Unless you're one of those peopple that seem to believe that they should be worn around the knees, as seems to be becomming more common among the under 20 males these days.
I'm sure many would love it if society were accepting of variations in attire (as in not insisting that certain pieces of clothing is "only" for boys or girls)... :-)
Annette
Aversion to pants
It is certainly my own "trip"; one that I do not lay on anyone else. If you go to SHUKRONLINE.com, that is pretty much how I dress. I just really dislike pants, and perhaps it is because I was deprived of skirts for so long. Let those who want to wear pants, wear them. I have a girlfriend who also always wears skirts all the time, so there is more than one of us. :)
Many Blessings
Gwendolyn
Remember DES?
I was a member of the yahoo group for a long time, but I never felt like they came up with the hard data. In my opinion, that College in Austrailia seems to be most competent at the time. I am hoping for good things from them.
Gwendolyn
Indeed...
We've been "flooding" our environment, the whole world's environment, with a witch's brew of potent physiological poisons for the past hundred years or so; blaming the humble soy bean, which has been around for a very long time, is something like blaming the dog for eating one's homework.
>> more serious endocrine disrupters, e.g. phthalates,
Puddin'
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Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
Similac
I'm sorry but your father is just full of it and please be the girl you are as we don't need to loose another person for that kind of thinking! Richard
Richard
I can't remember the exact
I can't remember the exact quote, but it goes something like "when one starts questioning the form of the message, it's often because they have a hard time dealing with the truth of the message". When people don't like reality, they often try to change it. This to me sounds like someone grasping at straws in the hope that changing reality is possible.
No Lawyer's Ads so the Similac story must not be true
RAMI
If there was anything even remotely true and proven that Similac or any product can cause GID in babies born male, then we would, in the U.S. at least, see a flood of ads, by attornies seeking clients to sue the makers of Similac. Most people, would think that the product was defective and would feel that they or their baby was damaged by the product. (Please no attacks, most people are not intune with the mind set of the readers to this site).
So since there are none I know of, either the story is not true or the evidence proving the point is lacking.
RAMI
RAMI
Establishing a reason
I think that some people have to in their own minds justify why somethings around them is not like the others.
So urban legends/rumors are started to give them a peace of mind and hope thatthe rest of society bites into the semi validated lie.
I think that in all reality tha thsoe who are straight may have theri own brian damage occurring in the birth cycle. We were taught what is male and what is female ( I'm a child from the 50's). I certainly discovered what made me comfortable and it was nothing "male"
I can understand Gwens dislike for pants. if one is forced to wear an article of clothing agains ones will then one is repulsed when given the choice to not wear that clothing.
If I wear slacks, no pants for me, (I see pants as apparrel made out of denim with a zipper flap upfront) I am choosy about slacks, side or back zippers only. slacks that a man would run away from if he had to wear them.
Being psychologically deranged as a child and made to believe I was a boy. those moments of abuse (which were pre-stated with "this'll make a man out of you.") I became a people pleaser. I entered the military, volunteered for hazardous duty, failed the preliminary requirements. volunteered for Viet Nam so I could die, failed that miserablyand found alcohol to be a nice comfort item. I drank to not be me, ended up in rehab, more confused.
Late in life i finally come to realize I am me and I don't need to listen to the rest of the world.
I had spent 20 years in pants for a military cause.
My closet is now full of dresses, skirts and blouses. very few slacks. lots of shoes and assorted lingerie in the dresser in the closet.
I still hear people telling me God does not want me this way and then they give me their reason.
"In life there are no wrong answers." A nice profund statement with a whole lot of truth.
Jill Micayla
May you have a wonderful today and a better tomorrow
Jill Micayla
Be kinder than necessary,Because everyone you meet
Is fighting some kind of battle.
I Have Always Felt That Those People Are A Bit Egotistic
I have always felt that people who make statements claiming to know the mind of God are egotistic. They have no real way of knowing whether God really said those things or feels that way. They go by a book that has been interpreted no less than 26 different times. It has been tampered with so much that it is hard to really know what is real and what isn't. I just follow what Jesus did as he spread his love to the outcasts of society.
Why all this fixation with causes?
GID is a variation on the norm of the gender continuum. It isn't a disease (despite DSM iv)it's a life state. There are no symptoms other than those reported by the individual. It isn't curable - because it isn't a disease. Yet we spend years agonising over a cause because then we can blame something or someone. So it's not our fault.
It's about accepting ourselves for who and what we are. We go on about being accepted by others, but it's often ourselves who have the problem.
In my own experience, I felt stronger in myself, once I accepted I was who and what I am, which freed up energy to get on with my life. Once I accepted me, I was able to accept responsibility for what I was going to do about it. In my mind it empowered me by giving me some control over my life.
The causes of GID are purely academic, so unless you're studying gender theory, or social anthropology, it's irrelevant - just get on with life.
A.
Angharad
Angharad
Thank You...
Though, there are others that appreciate knowing the cause(s) of GID... To some extent, my spouse actually is dealing with it better, knowing it's a "state" not a mental condidtion... That there's not a "cure". And, this "acceptance" is helping us work through things together.
Admitting who I was to my spouse, was probably the hardest thing I've ever done... Harder than living the lie for more than 20 years. Though, and she even says this, I'm obviously a much happier and open person than I've ever been before (and we've been married 28 years - this Saturday).
I don't know where things will end up, but I have my suspicions... And, when I was first diagnosed (or even the day before I came out) I "knew" it wasn't possible.
Thanks again for stating it this way.
Annette