Melvin Amantiad was born and raised in Hawaii. When Melvin was in his early 20s (1980s for reference), he went in for a check-up for prostate cancer because he was having pain in his growing/stomach area. Because of his body shape, his doctor suggested doing a karyotype test. The test results came back positive for XXY. He was given a pamphlet from the doctor and sent on his way. His doctors scared him with the idea of being put on hormone treatment that it would make him very aggressive and get into trouble with the law.