...This is actually my first time ever posting in a forum (despite being rather computer literate, to say the least), so I do apologize if I come across as nervous. ^^;
Having said that, hello! My name is Shawna, and I'm a twenty-six year old MTF living in British Columbia, Canada. (Not too far outside of Vancouver, actually) I only came to the realization that I was transsexual fairly recently; it's something I've thought about since I was six or seven (well back then, I always thought I was a girl) but first I always believed that I could put that issue to the back of my mind...and then I kind of figured that the timing would never be right for it, my family wouldn't accept it, and fear more than anything held me back.
Then in November of this year I just starting thinking about it more and more again and this time it made sense, and I figured that this isn't something I wanted to run or hide from anymore, but instead embrace it. And I feel so happy for doing so, even though right now I'm not exactly "out" as per se.
My parents, most of my family, and friends online know about this, though, and all have been accepting of it and my plans for the future. I do feel lucky that I have family support for one and that I haven't had a negative reaction so far, but I am preparing myself for the day it happens since I'm sure, it's not one of those matters of "if", but "when".
I hope to start HRT before the end of this year/early next year, and I'm excited for it. I'm in the middle of starting what I hope will be my career right now, too; in the past I was heavily involved in running these delivery companies for newspapers, faced a significant work burn-out, then went overseas to the Netherlands for a year and a half and now that I'm back, I'm setting myself up to be a web developer and designer. My goal is to self-employed through this, and in a few years after SRS is done, I'm going to make another move back overseas again, this time to England or Scotland. (While I loved the Netherlands quite a bit, that route seems impossible so thus, I'm taking the route I can utilize in order to eventually live where I want and be happy with a new start.)
Well, I hope I didn't say too much. ^^; I will end off on this note, though; I realize none of this is easy and for sure there's bound to be difficulties in my future. But at the same time, the eternal optimist in me simply refuses to see this as a problem; I have a strong resolve that I can be happy and moderately successful in my life being who I am, and that I can get past the challenges ahead of me.
But yes, I'm also happy to be here! <3 I hope I can become a part of this community; it does very welcoming.
