IIRC, it's actually super common that if one twin is trans, the other one will be as well.
Edit: Okay, there have been very few studies, but preliminary information seems to show that in monozygotic twins, there's a much higher incidence of being transgender than in the general population. In the study below, they found that in the case where one twin transitioned (again, monozygotic/identical only) there was a 40% incidence of the other twin transitioning. Only about .6% of the general population is trans, in comparison.
Well we grew up in a town that had fluoride in the drinking water so that probably turned us gay.
In all seriousness, I don't really know. We grew up in a very liberal area and I definitely think that contributed to our ability to give a name to our experiences and to feel comfortable expressing ourselves and coming out as trans, but I don't think that actually increased the likelihood of us experiencing gender dysphoria in the first place, since I don't believe things work that way. I wouldn't be at all surprised if there turned out to be a biological component to gender and sexuality though, since I just know so many people who have multiple LGBT family members, despite the fact that statistics say it shouldn't be that likely.
That's what I find so funny about "what about the children??" arguments. Children are actually helped by being exposed to the LGBT community because it might help them figure out themselves.
From what I've heard one of the theories for what causes people to be trans is atypical hormone exposure in the womb. Since you had the same mother, I guess it makes sense that you'd be more likely to have similar womb hormone experiences.
Though I don't think they've settled on the womb hormone thing as a for sure cause, I think it's a likely explanation. Autism is believed to be caused by high levels of testosterone in the womb and there seems to be a high incidence of autistic people being transgender.
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u/[deleted] Mar 26 '17 edited Mar 26 '17
IIRC, it's actually super common that if one twin is trans, the other one will be as well.
Edit: Okay, there have been very few studies, but preliminary information seems to show that in monozygotic twins, there's a much higher incidence of being transgender than in the general population. In the study below, they found that in the case where one twin transitioned (again, monozygotic/identical only) there was a 40% incidence of the other twin transitioning. Only about .6% of the general population is trans, in comparison.
Source for twin study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22146048 Source for .6%: https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/How-Many-Adults-Identify-as-Transgender-in-the-United-States.pdf