Silly question that's been bugging me for 2 years now

[Taka]

i wouldn't. there's no point going back unless i could tell my 10-year-old self that there's a way to escape puberty, for my family to accept me, make the doctors understand, and leave myself a note that i have to make this time travel in the future. that would end up as a seriously weird time paradox where my younger self is visited by my transitioned self, and is so scared by it that they'd refuse to do anything and i just end up right where i am now anyway. i'd be caught in a neverending loop of impossibilities and probably commit suicide just to make it end.

but the main reason why i wouldn't go back in time is that if i did anything when i was young enough for it to matter (for my body), i wouldn't have my daughter. and i really don't want that. the boyfriend was a mistake, but one that i would not want to change. i am the person i am because of the way i've lived after all, i wouldn't want to become someone else.

[Misato]

I regret I couldn't start my transition sooner.  But, I wasn't ready for various reasons.

Even if I could go back, I doubt I'd listen to me anyway.  I was bullheaded and very afraid.

[Jayne]

I'm suprised how many replies this topic has recieved in the space of a few hours.
It seems to be a 50/50 split as to who would or wouldn't travel back, I almost put a poll on here but after seeing the in depth replies i'm glad I didn't, a poll would never have conveyed the emotion of many of these replies

[Jamie D]

Never

Not in a million years.

My 3 beautiful children brings an immeasurable amount more happiness than my gender presentation could ever bring

They are beautiful, Annah.  And the redhead in the middle reminds me of me when I was that age.

[Constance]

If you could go back in time would you do this earlier?

No. Like Annah, I would not give up my kids for anything.

Or if you could take a pill back to make you. . . . . . . .  normal, would you

Absolutely. I'm in transition now, so I might as well continue. But this has cost me my marriage, and I'm still reeling from that.

[John Smith]

In a heartbeat.

Now that I'm not in a hurry, I guess I could add more.

When talking about "going back and transitioning earlier", I'm thinking going back to 18 would be a suitable time, taking my living situation at the time into consideration. That means I'd still have my son, he would just get to grow up with a spare dad rather than a miserable mom. :p  Apart from that, I really would not miss out on anything by changing my life around at that age. I haven't met anyone I couldn't do without, I'd probably get the same education (but be more focused and doing better with my studies).

[tekla]

Every now and then when I was teaching history I'd kill some time by doing a time machine deal - asking if they could use one where would they go back to?  Overwhelmingly the Middle Ages won.  And I always felt obligated to tell the kids that what they picture as the Middle Ages, and why they want to go --- that whole Kings, Queens, Princess, Knights and the "Court" thing --- was confined to a very, very, VERY small section of the population.  Just playing the odds, if you got send back to the Middle Ages, you'd be a peasant.  Turnips for breakfast, lunch and dinner - assuming you had turnips, other wise you'd just starve.

What questions like this are really asking I think is: If you could make your life perfect, would you?  And I've yet to meet anyone who has a perfect life.  A pill to make you 'normal' - what exactly is that?  What you mean of course is that you'd no longer have GID, and that weirdness would not be in your life, but nature abhors a vacuum and all that, and some other weirdness would come rushing in.  I mean that, while you might think you're pretty uniquely weird - and perhaps you are - but it's not unique at all to be weird in some way.  As bad as GID is for some, perhaps many, there are many that are much worse.

Goodbye, Mama and Papa
Goodbye, Jack and Jill
The grass ain't greener, the wine ain't sweeter
either side of the hill.

[Kelly J. P.]

 I would transition earlier if I could. No doubts about that. I mean, there's definitely stuff I'd be leaving behind... but I can't honestly say I'd miss anything that I have right now if I could live my life again.

As far as time machines in general... there is no way I'd be travelling back in time unless I could be a kid again, and write notes to myself. The middle ages, victorian era, and all those other time periods before now are really quite horrible in comparison to today's relative paradise. Assuming, of course, the time machine also travels through space - travelling back in time to ancient North America is a different story... and I would still not want to do that.

If it travels through space and time, and I can return to the present, then I'd go to Israel, 2000 years ago, to see what really happened for myself.

But yeah. I'd be a kid again, write notes to myself, and send myself my PC as proof that the notes are from the future.

[Jayne]

In the car on the way home we were listening to talk radio. Guess what the subject was. TRANSEXUALS. My mom asked me if this was what I was. I said no, because the way she asked it she sounded concerned, as if it were not a good thing. I wish I could go back to this very moment in time and scream YES!!!

I can so relate to that, when I was about 12 or 13 my mum took me out into the garden for a chat, she had noticed that I was miserable most of the time, I couldn't mix with the other girls & didn't want to mix with the boys, I spent much of my time with a book as company.

I remeber as clear as day the look of concern on her face when she asked me why I was so unhappy, I had the words stuck in my mouth & screaming through my brain but my voice wouldn't work.
I think I blamed my unhappy state as being caused by my excema, I remember the excuse was pretty lame.

Thinking back about how concerned she looked I think she would have been relieved if i'd opened up & told her what the problem was & how I would rather die than carry on as a boy, all she cared about was my happiness.
Now that i've left it so long she's finding it hard to accept, i'm sure it's because she's known me as male for 37 yrs, also at that age I was acting quite feminine with my body language so I doubt it would have been as much of a shock

[Jayne]

Tekla, you've made a good point about wishing to make life perfect but I know that transitioning will never make that happen for me because i'll always have my other health issues to deal with.
Even going back with knowledge about modern medicine wouldn't help because even the best they have to offer only hides the problems a little bit.
If I was going to make my life perfect then i'd have to travel forward in time to gain the medical knowledge to clear all of my health issues, i'd then have to travel to the past to fix my health issues but this wouldn't guarantee a perfect life.
The next step would be to ensure I was rich, either by using my time travel ability to win the lottery several times or taking modern technology back to make a fortune.
Then I would have to buy an island because anytime life gets close to perfection some idiot walks through the door & ruins it by opening their mouth.

WOW...I was only going to do a very short reply!!

On the question you bought up about what time in history would you go to my answer is easy & instant, prehistoric times. i would make it my mission to see & study as many dinosaurs as possible (hopefully before one ate me)

[Chamillion]

Nah, I wouldn't, because I know where I'm at now, and it's pretty damn good. So why risk losing that on something that may or may not actually be better? I wouldn't give up the people I've known or the experiences I've had for anything, even the possibility of living as a guy from as early as possible.

Definitely would not take a pill to make me "normal" either because I would be somebody else.

My answers to these would have been different a few years ago.

[tekla]

The next step would be to ensure I was rich, either by using my time travel ability to win the lottery several times or taking modern technology back to make a fortune

I've spent a good chunk of my life for over 40 years hangin' with people who have lots, and lots, and lots of money.  Fame too.  And some of them are pretty much the most miserable people I've ever met.  (others are fantastically happy - it's a crapshoot really.)

And all these posts taken together really show that it's not just one thing, it's a bunch of stuff all stacked together.

[ashley_thomas]

I haven't transitioned yet, so what do I know? I'm out and presenting at home to my wife and kids, but no way.

as a woman, I have some ambition, easier accepted and accomplished as a man.  It's dark, but true, and it's easier as a guy.

I'm done with it after only ten years mind you, but it was useful.

[Kevin Peña]

Well, I'm pretty young, so I don't know how much earlier I could get. Maybe before my voice deepened? Then again, I made my first friends in 8th grade, so I doubt I'd want to lose that.

[Cindy]

I wonder why time travel fascinates people? We know it is impossible but it seems to have been a subject of interest in fiction and in life for  ages.

Do we really want to change our pasts or is it like dreaming of winning the lottery? The impossible dream that we don't have to deal with, it can just be a fantasy?

[Jayne]

I wonder why time travel fascinates people? We know it is impossible but it seems to have been a subject of interest in fiction and in life for  ages.

Do we really want to change our pasts or is it like dreaming of winning the lottery? The impossible dream that we don't have to deal with, it can just be a fantasy?

I think part of the appeal is having the chance to do things better, with less hurt to those around you, it's certainly one part that draws me when thinking about my life.

For time travel further back, I think it would be amazing to be able to dip in & out of history to soak up the true atmosphere & learn how big events really turned out, as the saying goes, history is written by the victors (but what really happened??)

As for dinosaurs, do I really need to explain? 

[Cindy]

I think part of the appeal is having the chance to do things better, with less hurt to those around you, it's certainly one part that draws me when thinking about my life.

For time travel further back, I think it would be amazing to be able to dip in & out of history to soak up the true atmosphere & learn how big events really turned out, as the saying goes, history is written by the victors (but what really happened??)

As for dinosaurs, do I really need to explain? 

There was a short story I read eons (sorry ) ago about dinosaurs. A guy goes back to watch them and doesn't realise that very large creatures can have very large parasites, and he gets jumped on by dinosaur 'fleas' - I won't go into the rest

[Jayne]

There was a short story I read eons (sorry ) ago about dinosaurs. A guy goes back to watch them and doesn't realise that very large creatures can have very large parasites, and he gets jumped on by dinosaur 'fleas' - I won't go into the rest

One of the best time travel/dinosaur short stories i've read involved a time traveller sitting in a bar explaining why dinosaurs really became extinct. Y'see, the little dino's were really very smart & made guns, they used these guns to hunt the big dino's until there were no more big dino's left, the listeners scoff "why haven't we found proof?" the man replies "the guns were small & rusted to nothing whilst the bones turned to stone"

You never know, it may be true 

[MadelineB]

If I could travel back in time, first I'd go further back to prevent the things happening that made it impossible for me to transition earlier - then I'd transition earlier. I didn't transition earlier because it wasn't safe to. I'd go back and make it safe to. Priorities .

WHAT SHE SAID!

And regarding the whole paradox business: Nah, if you can time travel, ipso facto the paradox problem isn't a problem, therefore time is stranded like a tapestry and the many futures many pasts applies.

That said, how do you know I didn't transition now precisely because I read a thread like this 30 years from now and decided yep, I'm going to go plug in the ol' time machine and do it. There are other alternative futures where I don't transition until much later or ever, just like I know that in most alternate time lines I died a long time ago. This turned out to be the best one I could figure out so far. Hold it, there's someone knocking at the door.

Oh, that was a gal who said she was me from the future. She gave me a time machine. I didn't tell her I already have one.

[Cindy]

WHAT SHE SAID!

And regarding the whole paradox business: Nah, if you can time travel, ipso facto the paradox problem isn't a problem, therefore time is stranded like a tapestry and the many futures many pasts applies.

That said, how do you know I didn't transition now precisely because I read a thread like this 30 years from now and decided yep, I'm going to go plug in the ol' time machine and do it. There are other alternative futures where I don't transition until much later or ever, just like I know that in most alternate time lines I died a long time ago. This turned out to be the best one I could figure out so far. Hold it, there's someone knocking at the door.

Oh, that was a gal who said she was me from the future. She gave me a time machine. I didn't tell her I already have one.

Who was her Dr ?