Originally Posted by laurenena

I am so sorry that you're having to deal with this! Dealing with parents and sexuality is a whole different issue, and so complicated. It's amazing how progressive our country can be, but when it comes to "the gays" we are just shoved in the closet. If I were you, I wouldn't present PCOS to my mother as only being caused by too much testosterone. I have recently seen studies though that have found that lesbians are at a MUCH higher risk of having PCOS. They did a study and 80% of the PCOS women were gay, 20% straight. Pretty crazy, huh? I take this as a step forward for us, as it shows a chemical correlation....basically screwing their born gay/chose to be gay attitude! The other thing I was going to say is that with my PCOS I only have a slightly elevated level of testosterone. What makes our ovaries screwy is the pitutary gland secreting different levels of LH and FSH (an endocrine issue), in conjunction with the pancreas sometimes doing whacky things with insulin levels. So, I wouldn't necessarily go into a PCOS conversation with your mom just on the testosterone level fact alone. It's the big picture....
Best of luck in telling your mom. Fortunately, for me my mom had come to terms (in her own way) of my sexuality well before the PCOS diagnosis. She has been very supportive, and in fact it has really opened the door for us to talk about the fact that I will have children one day. Before she wouldn't really be open to talking about it. So maybe this will actually be a positive thing for you???