Abstract
Gender dysphoria (GD) is defined as a persistent and distressful incongruence between one’s gender identity and one’s at-birth-assigned sex. Sex reassignment has been religiously accepted for transgender individuals in postrevolutionary Iran since 1987; however, very little is known about how many individuals seek and receive such treatment annually. This study provides the first nationwide effort to assess the prevalence of GD in Iran as a function of diagnosis. The medical records of all transgender individuals referred to the Iranian Legal Medicine Organization between March 2012 and March 2017 were reviewed. All individuals diagnosed with GD were contacted. A total of 839 medical records meeting study criteria were received and evaluated. The prevalence of transgender individuals was estimated to be 1.46 per 100,000 Iranians with a transwoman (TW)/ transman (TM) ratio of 1:2. The mean age of individuals with GD at the time of referral was 25.22 (SD = 6.25) years for TW and 25.51 (SD = 5.66) years for TM. The findings are twofold. First, gender dysphoria is less prevalent in Iran than has been reported in Western countries. Second, the sex ratio is skewed toward at-birth-assigned females, which differs from what has been reported in Western countries. These findings have been interpreted in light of Iran’s legal system, which is based on Islamic penal codes. These findings are of utmost importance for both health providers and legislators, as it can illustrate a more accurate picture of the transgender population in Iran.
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Notes
Sex reassignment among those below 18 years of age is also possible but only with parental approvement and consent.
According to Islamic Penal code, homosexuality in women can be punished by death too only if repeated at least three times.
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This work was supported by Mashhad University of Medical Sciences.
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AT and BSK participated in the concept and design, analysis, and interpretation of data, drafting and revising of the article. AH, NBM, MD, and NL participated in data collection, analysis, interpretation of data, and revising of the article. All authors approved the article as submitted.
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Talaei, A., Hedjazi, A., Badieyan Moosavi, N. et al. The Epidemiology of Gender Dysphoria in Iran: The First Nationwide Study. Arch Sex Behav 51, 1881–1889 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02250-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02250-y