A psychologist who helps people switch genders said that when a transsexual currently fighting for custody of his two children first came to his clinic in 1985, he was seeking the American Dream.

"This was a hard-working individual who simply wanted the chance to make things right," said Dr. Collier Cole, testifying in the Florida custody battle between Michael Kantaras and his former wife, Linda Kantaras. Cole said that, by seeking a sex change, Kantaras simply wanted to follow his correct path — becoming a man and having a wife and kids.

Continuing with his Americana metaphors, the psychologist likened the process of sexual development to an assembly line for sports utilities vehicles.

"In most cases it comes out a nice Ford Explorer," Cole testified. "But in some cases you might not even know the defect until it's out on the road."

In Michael Kantaras' case, his "vehicle" had been on the road for 25 years; he sought gender reassignment at Cole's Galveston, Texas, clinic in 1985. There, Kantaras, now 42, underwent the removal of his breasts, uterus and ovaries, and began the hormone therapy that he argues has made him every bit a man.

Cole, who has worked with transsexuals since 1970, corroborated the testimony of the other experts that Michael Kantaras and his lawyers have called to testify — two psychologists who specialize in transsexualism and a plastic surgeon who helped perform Kantaras' sexual reassignment surgery — and added additional perspective on how his clinic functions.

One of Michael Kantaras' central claims is that having a penis should not be a requirement for being legally declared male — which is precisely what O'Brien must declare for Kantaras' marriage to be valid under Florida Law. Linda Kantaras, 33, has argued that the couple's 1989 marriage should be considered void because of a 1998 law banning same-sex marriages.

For his part, Cole told the court that he considers Michael Kantaras to be male, despite his lack of a penis. Cole said that he advises his patients to avoid phalloplasty, a surgical technique that uses transplanted fat and skin to create a penis in female-to-male transsexuals.

Dr. Collier Cole

"I basically tell the guys to wait until something better comes along," Cole testified. "The surgeons have told me that it's kind of a one-shot deal. It can be very complicated to go back in through scar tissue and do everything."

Equating the testosterone-enlarged clitoris with a penis, Cole said the organ afforded the majority of his patients a healthy sex life — even though they didn't have the genuine article.

"Whatever they want to do and is satisfying to them behind closed doors, that's the appropriate way for them to express their sexual behavior to each other," the expert said, adding, "I would say probably 75 to 80 percent of [their] partners accept the reduced penis."

But as she has done with the other experts brought by Michael Kantaras and his lawyers, Linda Kantaras' attorney, Claudia Wheeler, made a big issue of what some experts have called a "little penis." The lawyer alleged that Kantaras' genitals could, in fact, be a major hurdle for the female-to-male transsexual both in his personal life and his role as a parent.

Cole acknowledged that some of the more than 200 female-to-male transsexuals that he worked with have come to him with problems, but none specific to their condition. "They're basically describing problems in living, problems that aren't related to their transsexual status," he said.

"You want us to believe that not having a penis and not being able to have sex won't create a problem?" Wheeler asked, feigning disbelief.

During his testimony, Cole drew on nearly 28 years of experience at the Rosenberg clinic to paint a rosy picture of the postoperative life of the transsexuals he has treated. But Wheeler charged Cole for being too general with his statements about how well the sexual transformations had panned out.

Pressed for statistics by the attorney, Cole offered only, "I'm able to make a statement that they can be very happy and productive people."

"And how many of those people are single divorced transsexuals with custody of their children?" shot back the lawyer.

"I can't think of how many off hand," Cole replied.

Throughout the trial, which is now in its fifth day, Circuit Court Judge Gerard O'Brien has shown a keen interest in the vagaries of transsexualism, and has asked many of the experts on the stand questions about everything from genetics to sexual behavior.

On Monday, O'Brien asked Cole to explain other similar transgender disorders facing everyone from intersexual individuals — who have both male and female genitalia — to hermaphrodites.

"The man on the street always seems to have his knee jerk reaction for sexual problems or concerns," O'Brien said, after leading the expert witness through a series of near-textbook definitions. The judge added upon reflection, "I guess I should make that politically correct ... I should say 'persons on the street.'"

Testimony will continue Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. The trial is being broadcast live on Court TV.