Transsexual and potential transsexual

The most important thing in transsexual issues is how to maintain the fairness between transsexual athletes and normal athletes. Especially, when male athlete transfers into female athlete, because the androgen still maintains at a high level at the beginning of transsexualism, the sport ability will not change. Therefore, a standard of androgen is needed to test the athletes’ androgen levels before the games.

Another issue is potential transsexual which the female athletes abuse the steroid or other androgen medicines by themselves or by coaches. In order to increase female athletes’ physical strength and endurance, some coaches ask their athletes to take androgen medicines or some female athletes will choose to take. In other words, those female athletes received the potential transsexual for the purpose of winning the champions.

However, taking androgen medicines absolutely has the side effects to the female athletes. They will show masculine qualities, such as growing a beard, darkening body hair, and deepening voice. Those changes also will cause their psychological problems which make them feel inferior. Other serious problems will appear when those female athletes retire from sports. In order to keep female characteristics, they have to take estrogen medicines paid by their own. In the first place, however, most retired athletes in China are struggling to find a job, and those estrogen medicines are really expensive. Therefore, those female athletes live miserable lives during both athletic periods and retired periods. This is not the issue just happened in China, but in the whole world. If interested, please see Honour, J. W. (1997). Steroid abuse in female athletes. Current Opinion in Obstetrics and Gynecology, 9, 187-192.