I. Am. Legal.

[Constance]

My legal name & gender change petition was granted. I am now legally Constance Anne Mcentee, Female!

[Devlyn]

Woohoo! Party at Connie's house! Hugs, Devlyn

[Kevin Peña]

Congratulations!

[King Malachite]

Congrats Constance!  -hugs-  I agree with Devlyn.  Partyyyyy!

[Heather]

Congratulations! That must be an awesome feeling.

[Nero]

congrats sweetie!

[Shawn Sunshine]

Cool Beans, what petition was that , from the Judge? So now you can change your social and birth too eh?

[Cindy]

Congratulations, Ms Constance

[Shang]

Congrats!

[Sarah Louise]

Lets have a party.

Congradulations!!

[Laura91]

Congratulations! 

[Constance]

Thanks everyone!

Cool Beans, what petition was that , from the Judge? So now you can change your social and birth too eh?

First, I had to file a petition with the CA Superior Court for the legal name and gender change. That was $435. Along with that, once I had the hearing date, I had to file a legal notice in a local paper once a week for four weeks. That was another $236. Then, I basically stood in front of the judge. He reviewed the paperwork and signed it. The certified copies (6 in all) were another $150.

But after all of that, my real name is now my legal name!

[Shawn Sunshine]

Why do they want you to list it in a newspaper? I had not heard of that before.

Oh and your initials are CAM 

A CAM is a rotating or sliding piece in a mechanical linkage used especially in transforming rotary motion into linear motion or vice-versa.

[Constance]

I think the newspaper thing is so that if I'd stiffed anyone financially they can protest the name change saying my purpose is fraud. 

And, yeah, one of my nicknames is Cam. I often sign emails to my kids as being from "CAMo Daddee."

[RachelH]

Congratulations!! x

[Constance]

Thanks all.

So now comes the paperwork: driver's license, SSA, bank, lease, HR, all that.

But also, part of the court order is that I get a new birth certificate with this "corrected" information! It's just part of the court order! I wasn't expecting that.

[Charlequin]

Seriously awesome to hear, congratulations to you. Best of luck to you on getting all the paperwork done without breaking any pencils or pens!

[Constance]

This process was made so much easier by contacting the Transgender Law Center. I filled out a very simple questionnaire and they mailed me a packet with all of the forms already filled out and covered with little flags saying, "Sign Here." They included a sample letter for my endo to use, and he pretty much printed one up on his office's stationery.

Really, the TLC made is so simple. They even included the forms I'll need for my driver's license too.