My Earlier Intro PostI had a grand week of coming out to my family, and for the most part it went rather well! I had already confessed to my spouse (totally supportive) and many of my close friends. My family however all live in England where I grew up, and I live in New York (emigrated 7 years ago) so I had been holding off telling them because it wasn't like I could go over for coffee and a chat.
I wrote up a coming out letter even before I started HRT, a few months ago, akin to what I had seen many people say worked well here but I could never work up the desire to send it and get the ball rolling. I wasn't really too worried about what most of my family would think, but it was going to be difficult and so I avoided it.
I started with my mom, by phone. She was surprised! Moreso than any of the friends I had told, who knew me well and knew I had a tendency towards the feminine. She did the usual mom thing of worry about my safety and happiness with regards to being treated unfairly or unpleasantly, but she was very supportive. We've now spoken more in the last week or so than we had in the previous few months!
Next was my older sister, again purely by phone. She works in a private hospital in England that does do some GRS/SRS, so I was hoping she was familiar with things. She was more familiar than most, but she was still unsure about many things like HRT. That went well too! I got a lot of love from my mom and sister.
Then my dad. My mom wasn't sure what he would think, and he was going to be the first male I told (All of my friends are female), but I thought he would handle it well. He did! It was a shorter conversation than most because he had family waiting for dinner, but he said something that was nice to hear "If anyone has a problem with it, they have a problem with me". He asked me to send him something to read on the subject so I started him with the wiki page on MtF HRT.
Lastly my brother (half brother really, on my moms side, but none of my siblings, all of whom are half siblings ever make the distinction). My mom and I knew he wouldn't take it too well. He's not really been as much exposed to things like this and I think tends to hold to the opinion that all that "stuff" is "weird". My mom offered to tell him and she did last night. He didn't really say much, and apparently left after a short while to supposedly go to the store. He ended up disappearing until 2am when he came home and fell asleep on the couch. Real mature for a 37 year old eh? (he's staying with my mom briefly) My mom says he hasn't said anything about it since.
I have one more sister left and I'm calling her Thursday when I have time off from work! My mom told me to tell her last because she can't keep a secret to save her life! I think she will be pretty understanding and possibly even excited about some of the fun changes.
All in all it's been a good week! As far as my brother goes, I'm not too crushed. If he has a problem with it, then that's just the way it goes. We honestly don't talk a whole lot even as it is and I'm finding myself having little time or sympathy for people who have closed minds. The only relationships I was really worried about were my wife and parents and those are going swimmingly!
Anyhow I just wanted to share my successes
