Jorgensen, Christine (1926-1989)

Kristen Schilt

Christine lorgensen was born George William lorgensen in 1926. Reflecting in later years on childhood, Christine described struggling with a longstanding sense of herself as really a girl despite her male body. In the mid-1940s, George was drafted to fight overseas in World War II. The military did nothing to alleviate his sense of himself as a woman. After the war, George traveled to Denmark, a country known at the time for doing experimental sex reassignment surgery. He met Christian Hamburger, an endocrinologist, who was receptive to George's desire to become a woman. Under Hamburger's care, George took estrogen, underwent electrolysis, and had a castration operation. She took the name “Christine” to honor Hamburger. By 1953, Hamburger had received hundreds ...

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