Hi all
I guess it's only fair that I post some sort of an intro so you know a little about me.
I was born in 1960 in Europe and moved to Australia as a 2 year old in 1962. I spent my childhood years here as an extremely shy child. In 1975 we moved back to Europe, a move which in my mind was a blessing for me. I was 14 at the time and with what lie ahead I was much better off in a more liberal Europe than an extremely conservative Australia (where being gay was illegal way into the 80's).
I had SRS in 1984. In my home country SRS and following breast implants, rhino etc were covered by the health system (this is where the blessing comes in
). All HRT was also covered by the health system and only a gap was required to be paid.
After my surgery I sent a letter to the Australian Embassy to have my passport corrected to my new identity. I had already done this with all my school document and written work references, some even backdating to the original date. The response from the embassy was that they were happy to change my name but not the gender so my passport would show an "M" under gender. This prompted me to relinquish my Australian citizenship and become a citizen of the country I currently lived in.
In the years after SRS I had a few relationships, normally lasting not more than a couple of years. My brother and I had been speaking for some time about going to Australia on a holiday to perhaps consider whether we would like to move back. We did so in 1998 and both agreed that we wanted to give it a go. My brother moved down in 2002. In the mean time I had met a new man and strangely enough, his dream was to move to Australia.
Anyway... I had made a decission, I wanted to go back to my childhood home, there was only one thing... none of us had Australian citizenship (my brother has dual because he was born in Oz). I figured that times may have changed so I applied to have my citizenship reinstated based on the unfair treatment I experienced in the 80's. Australia is very big on non discrimination, and needless to say my applicaton was approved. My passport has an F in it
We came to Australia in September 2003 and settled in with work and a nice home. Unfortunately my husband did not like living in Australia and wanted to go back home after 2 years. He has very storng ties with his immediate family and I think it was too much of a dramatic change to go from seeing them every day to not seeing them at all. Personally I was not prepared to go back to the cold climate we left behind so we decided to separate and go our separate ways.
Being TS here is fairly ... how should I put it... comfortable. It's hard to know whether people know or not because you are always treated the same.. with respect. In a sence it is a bit frustrating not knowing but on the other hand it is very relaxing. I have made some enquiries in regards to obtaining hormones but was told that there are hardly any doctors that will prescribe them. Not that I have been too fussed, I haven't taken any hormones in the last 10 years.
Well, to end this little intro I'd like to say that I find these forums and this community to be a very welcoming and loving one. I look forward to get to know some of you better. I know most of you live in the US but there are also a few from other countries. Hopefully I will be able to contribute to the community with experiences. I am planning on having FFS, hopefully within a year or so and then there's those bloddy nipples!
lol
The end...
(or is it?)
