I don't mean to be rude, but..

[Roy]

I'm in my mid-30s and just beginning to physically transition, though I've known I was trans since I was 4 or 5. Basically around the same time I realized that there was a difference between boys and girls.

For me, some of the delay was that I never saw trans men anywhere. I was familiar with trans women and the idea of a "sex change" while growing up, but never fully realized it was something I could do.

Once I had figured it out, I was just old enough to be worrying about getting and keeping a job and tried to put all that gender stuff on the back burner. Transitioning is was expensive and strange and could cost me my job or my life, right? No sense in transitioning when my partner was willing to accept me as a man behind closed doors, right?

Wrong. As a lot of people on this board have said, eventually you reach a point where something has to give. I know I can't be happy living the next 40 or 50 years as a "woman". And I refuse to be unhappy for that damn long.

PS: Jasper is an awesome name, btw. I'm glad you're exploring all this so early in your life; it always cheers me up to see younger folks doing that.

[Fred86]

I may be in the minority, but I personally didn't 'come out' to myself until 26 (a few weeks back). It isn't that I didn't know, it's that I was denying it/suppressing it and trying to just 'fit in'. I've always felt overtly feminine, and battled to be more masculine as a result. I've dealt with a lot of weird things in my life, family issues, health issues, religious issues, and for the first time in a long time (the last year or so) I have been the healthiest (physically and mentally) that I've ever been. This may be why it all suddenly came out, it was being shoved under the mental carpet because I had other things to deal with.

I wish I had come clean with myself when I was younger, so that I could have started to deal with it earlier, but I'm just glad I know now, since I finally understand my constant frustration and anxiety (and although it's still there, I at least understand it now, and can work on my GID).

Nattie's account sounds incredibly similar to my story... I am 27 and I finally admitted to myself that I have been in the wrong body all  these years despite knowing for a very long time that things just did not add up. I, too, wish sometimes I came to the realisation years ago but I am very happy my eyes are wide open now. I suppose it's mostly about our mental state/environment and such that allow us to see and accept who we are. For some it just happens earlier than to others.

[aleon515]

I only figured out the language to explain who I am in my late teens/early 20s. I knew something was different but didn't know what, and didn't know how to explain it. I'm also in my mid-20s right now.

Nygeel's sense of being "different" but not knowing how, I really understand about that. OTOH, I have Asperger's and I thought, "well that's how I'm different". As it is, I think Asperger's people do have a higher incidence of gender non-conformity. But I didn't know that back then.

--Jay

[Jasper.Beauclair]

I'm in my mid-30s and just beginning to physically transition, though I've known I was trans since I was 4 or 5. Basically around the same time I realized that there was a difference between boys and girls.

For me, some of the delay was that I never saw trans men anywhere. I was familiar with trans women and the idea of a "sex change" while growing up, but never fully realized it was something I could do.

Once I had figured it out, I was just old enough to be worrying about getting and keeping a job and tried to put all that gender stuff on the back burner. Transitioning is was expensive and strange and could cost me my job or my life, right? No sense in transitioning when my partner was willing to accept me as a man behind closed doors, right?

Wrong. As a lot of people on this board have said, eventually you reach a point where something has to give. I know I can't be happy living the next 40 or 50 years as a "woman". And I refuse to be unhappy for that damn long.

PS: Jasper is an awesome name, btw. I'm glad you're exploring all this so early in your life; it always cheers me up to see younger folks doing that.

thanks about my name, when i was born i was completely bald and everyone thought i was a boy, my mom had to put me in bows and dresses and pierce my ears so theyd know i was a girl.. but shed joke to people my name was jake or jacob. i have a slight ... well im not sure if its a speech impediment, but when i try to talk, my brain and mouth arent coordinated and ill want to say no, ill actually say something like elbow or my kitten's name is gilly, ill say jalapeno or something; trying to say jacob, i said jasper and it just stuck

[aleon515]

thanks about my name, when i was born i was completely bald and everyone thought i was a boy, my mom had to put me in bows and dresses and pierce my ears so theyd know i was a girl.. but shed joke to people my name was jake or jacob. i have a slight ... well im not sure if its a speech impediment, but when i try to talk, my brain and mouth arent coordinated and ill want to say no, ill actually say something like elbow or my kitten's name is gilly, ill say jalapeno or something; trying to say jacob, i said jasper and it just stuck

I was completely bald too. Mom was pushing me in the tram, and someone said "What a cute little boy" and mom goes home crying. LOL. Funnier story in retrospect, but mom has been deceased now for years.

--Jay

[verkatzt]

Late 30's here, figured it out at 35.  I always felt wrong being identified as female, and I was always so overjoyed when people "mistook" me for a guy, but the light bulb didn't go off until a little over two years ago.  then, suddenly, a lot of things made sense for the first time...

[Cindy]

One thing that is perplexing the professional community is the sudden exponential spurt in referrals to gender clinics, it began a few years back after many years of steady referrals and now it has gone ballistic. This is the reason for the long waiting lists in many areas. It is a worldwide occurrence as well.

One point of extreme concern is how to supply medical help to the Asian countries with an estimated 20 million or more trans*gender people who require both medical and psychiatric help and of course societal help for acceptance in their countries.

[Bimmer Guy]

As it is, I think Asperger's people do have a higher incidence of gender non-conformity. But I didn't know that back then.

--Jay

Hey, Jay, I have noticed this myself and wondered about it.  Do you know if this has ever been researched?  Know of any literature on it?

I'm 44 years old.  Back in the day I knew of Renee Richards because we were a tennis family, but that was about it.

[aleon515]

Hey, Jay, I have noticed this myself and wondered about it.  Do you know if this has ever been researched?  Know of any literature on it?

I'm 44 years old.  Back in the day I knew of Renee Richards because we were a tennis family, but that was about it.

It's OT so I'm going to refer you to it. Google Simon Baron-Cohen and gender.
I don't know re: his theory but it would preclude the existence of Aspie MTFs, imo.

--Jay