Hi! I'm April221. That isn't what my parents named me, they gave me a male name, but parents don't wait a few years to name their children either! When I was about 6 years old, I was with a group of friends, all other girls of course, and we were discussing birthdays. When one of the other girls said that her birthday was in April, I became excited, "I'm April too!!!" and the name stayed with me. I was born in 1950, long before MTV, and the only difference between boys and girls that I was aware of was that the girls had long hair and dressed differently. I wanted to be a girl too, and since they let me wear their clothing, I WAS a girl, even though I had short hair. It was our secret. As time went on, I may have gotten older and learned that there is a lot more then clothing and long hair that separates male and female, but I've always been April, and have been working with a therapist towards a complete hormonal/surgical MTF transition. I've been diagnosed as TS, which doesn't mean a whole lot to me because I relate to being April more than the male persona that society has expected me to portray, and always have. Coming out to friends and associates was a surprise for me more than for them, because everyone knew "it was something like that" all along. I knew too much about things that men are clueless about. Maybe it never really was a secret! Even though I'm currently presenting myself as a male, I'm looking forwards to changing my name legally before the end of the year. Even though I look like a male, I'm not, and to continue to use a male name, I feel, is dishonest. As far as I'm concerned, April is the name that I was born with.
