9. Alan L Hart: The First Female to Male Gender Transition in American History
Alan Hart was born Lucille Hart on October 4, 1890. As a young child, Lucille found she much preferred dressing as a boy. On her grandparent’s farm, this was fine. However, the school forced Hart to dress and behave as a female. To counter this, Hart began to write for local publications using a male pseudonym and shying away from feminine topics. However, ‘she’ could not escape her defined sex and in 1917 was awarded a medical degree under his female name- even though sympathetic staff suffixed the records with the name Hart’s chosen name, Robert.
The new Dr. Hart began to explore ways to minimize his femininity. So he approached Dr. Joshua Gilbert of the University of Oregon and asked him if he could stop menstruation and remove any possibility of pregnancy. Gilbert examined Hart and declared him primarily male. As Gilbert deemed living as a woman was detrimental to Hart’s well-being, he then approved the removal of Hart’s womb. This operation was not only the first-ever hysterectomy of a healthy uterus; it also allowed Hart to change his sexual identity. Hart was able to deepen his voice and grow facial hair after the development of synthetic testosterone after the Second World War allowed. He married twice, and helped pioneer the use of X-ray in the treatment of TB,- as well as forging a successful second career writing novels.