Hello,
It occurs to me that this is completely backwards from what most people do - but that sounds about par for my life. My name is Aaryna Irwin (it's pronounced Air - Eye - Nuh
), and I am a 29 year old trans woman born and raised under the exasperatingly sunny skies of Nevada. I enjoy research, art, music, learning how things work, binge streaming sci-fi series, and long walks on the beach (too bad we don't have many of those here). In my long quest to finally get myself to admit who and what I am, I've come to Susan's Place more often than I could possibly count, and often found the information or solace that I sought. But I spent a quarter of a century trying to avoid interacting with anyone I didn't have to and trying to find excuses not to admit what I was and just be myself, so it never occurred to me that I could just... register for the forums... and... join in?!
So after spending all that time outright denying... and then a healthy stint of procrastinating... I took it upon myself to become myself. So I've been out to progressively larger degrees for the last two years or so. I've been on HRT since May 2013, full time since February 2014. Therapy, changed IDs and all the bells and whistles. I have been incredibly lucky to have the support of my wonderful wife Cathy who was one of the first to know the truth - arguably before I did - and to have surrounded myself with friends and family who never stopped surprising me with their acceptance and support during this phase of my transition. The people in my life proved to be more amazing than I ever gave them credit for and made the amount of time I spent waiting in denial seem like total folly.
So many people find a home here first, then go out into the world - I did it backwards, with a great deal of luck. Hopefully I can make that home a little brighter for others, though.
Hello everyone! It's an pleasure and honor to finally be here.
