Transgendered people come from all walks of life, and are represented in every race, class, culture, and sexual orientation. ‘Gender identity disorders’ have been identified in children as young as 3 years of age and in adults as old as 70. There is no definitive statistical information that speaks to the prevalence of ‘gender identity disorder’ in the general population. The statistical information that does exist varies both in terms of numbers and the sub-groups that are identified. Examples include the following; the known incidence of transgendered persons and specifically transsexual adults is 1 in 24,000 to 37,000 men and 1 in 103,000 to 150,000 women; 1 in 30,000 adult males and 1 in 100,000 adult females seek sex reassignment surgery;[17] and finally, according to statistics used by the Gender Identity Clinic at the Clark Institute of Psychiatry, the prevalence rate of transsexualism is about 1 case per 50,000 adults.[18]
However, representatives of the transgendered community highlighted that the prevalence of variant gender identities is probably underestimated because not all gender dysphoric people make themselves known to others or even acknowledge their identity to themselves.[19]
[17] See DSM IV at 535.
[18] See Gender Identity Clinic at the Clark Institute of Psychiatry <http://www.clarke-inst.on.ca/about_illnesses/gender_identity_disorder.h…;.
[19] See Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders, Treatments of Psychiatric Disorders (2nd ed.) (TPDII: 1995) Section 9.