Prenatal hormones and sexual orientation Only 23% of childhood gender problems will result in transsexuality in adulthood. Drawing on some transsexualism cases, Garcia-Falgueras and Swaab state that "[f]rom these examples it appears that the direct action of testosterone on the developing brain in boys and the lack of such action on the developing brain in girls are crucial factors in the development of male and female gender identity and sexual orientation ... ." Countless studies have been run on peripheral levels of sex steroids in male and female homosexuals, a considerable number of which claimed to find "less 'male hormone' and/or more 'female hormone' in
Steroid hormone balance, development of sexual characteristics, and the ability to withstand illness and injury. The term steroid describes both hormones produced by the body and artificially produced medications that duplicate the action for the naturally occurring steroids. The natural steroid hormones are generally synthesized from cholesterol in the gonads and adrenal glands. These forms of hormones are lipids. They can pass through the cell membrane as they are fat-soluble, and then bind to steroid hormone receptors (which may be nuclear or cytosolic depending on the steroid hormone) to bring about changes within the cell. Steroid hormones are generally carried in the