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[Karlie Ann]

As you can see, my upper body is too big.  And my face is too masculine = I mostly despair at ever being able to transition without being seen as a "man in a dress".

[Dena]

My second therapist said I was to masculine to be a woman. I had nose job but it didn't change all that much and I am 6'2" with a well developed chest cavity and shoulders. It is amazing what makeup, hair and properly picking your clothes will do to make you passable. I have lived as a woman for 35 years an nobody has called me out because of my looks. Yes my voice gave me away but vocal surgery didn't exist that far back.

Until you work on your image you will not know what is possible and let other judge the results. You may not see how feminine you appear for years while other may see it in months.

[archlord]

What doesnt help is most of us are very dysphoric of our appearance . I am personally looking at my face every time i walk by a mirror and i expect it to have changed since the morning. I am very disapointed when i notice it is still my male reflection  as previous hours before.  When you look at yourself to often your brain will just memorize your  look and erease the previous one so unless you remove all mirrors you have in your house and stop looking at yourself for a couple days/weeks, you wont notice any difference but there is! you just dont see it. Others are seeing it however.

Yesterday, I checked a picture that i took of me like a month before starting HRT then when i saw my reflection in the mirror later that day i was like  omg something is happening..!! but in reality something didnt happen at this moment, it happened just slowly and i couldnt notice it as i was staring at my reflection to often.  Today, i started a new job and they took a group picture of all the new employees.  They displayed a welcome message with this picture at the reception then when i looked at myself i saw the changes even more.

I went to the gym a couple days ago then i felt like i was being looked at ( i have been a long time member of this gym 7+ years and used to be very muscular).  My first thought were  omg did i forgot to remove some makeup? I just ran straight  to a mirror and didnt look or talk anyone. So i took a look at my face and it was clean but i felt uncomfortable all the time i spent at the gym that day.  Now i realise that its more my mannerism that changed ( i cant walk normally without having my hips moving from left to right) and  this is probably what flagged me because i am doing long cardio session.

My parents said to me tonight that some people told them that i have changed ( weight, muscle, face) still they(the others) have no idea what i am up to (  i am not out to everyone yet) but they saw the change.

So my words are, wait for HRT to do some magic, passing is not only about appearance it involves so many things. In  my case my voice is a huge flag and it is what is preventing me to go out, i am way to scared to be noticed..it takes practice and efforts. Just relax and enjoy the ride.

You will do wonderfully.