Dr. James Barry (1790s-1865) was famous for having his patients survive surgery, partly bc he insisted medical staff wash their hands, back when that wasn't a norm TIL James was secretly biologically female and lived as a man his whole life until he died: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Barry_(surgeon) …
Given how costly & risky this must've been for Barry, I don't find the career argument alone super compelling. Writing or producing art under a male relative's name is very different from assuming a new identity day in & day out.