If you could vist your child self..what would you tell yourself?

[Caith]

Unfortunately, I'd have to tell my younger self it will be 40 years before the world starts to realize gender-variant people are legitimate and healthy members of society.  It will also be 30 years before the internet becomes available to the general public, making it so much easier to learn about myself and connect with others.  I'd also strongly suggest to find out as soon as possible when cyproterone acetate becomes available in another 10 or 15 years, get some, and stop testosterone from wrecking my body, my skeleton, and my life.

I'm a real bundle of joy, huh?    It's not easy living with clinical depression, and it started during puberty/adolescence for me in the early 1970s.  It's genetic from my mom's side (thanks, Mom) but I sincerely believe testosterone fueled it.

[moonrise]

I would say do a better job of taking your life at 16 as the next 26 years hold constant heartache!

[SarahM777]

I would tell myself you're a worthwhile person,you are not junk, and don't ever beat your self up.

[Debra]

I would tell myself you're a worthwhile person,you are not junk, and don't ever beat your self up.

awww *hugs*

I'd also go back and tell my friend's former self to call CPS on her parents...because they are crazy and don't deserve her =(

[pebbles]

Those feelings you feel inside... They aren't silly and you certainly shouldn't dismiss them... because they are going to try and kill you. They are going to rip you to bits and no matter what you will be scarred for it.
I hate to bring such bad news kid but things are not going to be easy for you I can't really protect you from the nightmare your going to face but I can give you weapons that will help.

-Explain why jerry springer is a C**T and what a transsexual actually is. I'd point them in the direction of some transgender role models they would identify with and not feel so isolated and alone.
-And I would suggest not repressing my identity or feeling such shame from ages 11-16. do what I did ages 17-20 before then. (This would lead them on a path that should hopefully lead to an easier coming out.)
-Offer methods on howto minimize the destructive impact of the male puberty.
-If all else fails I provide desperate dangerous coping techniques that will help somewhat in the long run rather than just hurt you.
-Some emotional resolutions I have had on various traumas I've experienced.
-Told them to not take crap from the collage course induction supervisor storm out of that meeting Flipping the bird at them if you have to YOU ARE A SCIENTIST AND A GOOD ONE TOO YOU ARE NOT A DRAMA/ART STUDENT! Don't ever let them tell you otherwise because your only gonna lash out at others if you do accept it. You do badly at exams because your suffering so much.

Oh I'd also inform them about certain disasters and there dates. so even if it's hopeless you can try and warn others about it.

[Illusionary weapons]

Hi everyone my very first post and I hope it's not too incoherent haha.

I never had a *big* realisation until my very late teens, and even then I actually thought "Well I like females in that way, so being male will work...."  How wrong can one person be...

So child you have some of the very best of both worlds , yes you love adventure but imagination the thing you will always see as one of the very greatest of humanity's gifts will greatly confuse the situation!, it will make you think it doesn't matter you being a boy because if you like girls then it will be ok, but it does matter!  Obviously it does.

Don't wait until you're 36, or maybe do, but if you wait you'll have many lonely years but they will be bright and very soul building, but waiting so long there will be one cosmetic reason that will make being physically who you are just that little harder: male pattern baldness, it will make you go grrrr haha, you'll laugh, but it will rip a little hole in your soul.

So would I say come to the realisation sooner?  For me hmmm probably yes realise it matters greatly what you are haha (so obvious doh haha)  But would I wish I'd been born female?  For me the answer is almost certainly a no, I wouldn't be who I am.  A proud transfemale.

[tekla]

Oh I'd also inform them about certain disasters and there dates.

Don't you remember The City on the Edge of Forever, the penultimate Star Trek episode from season one, written by Harlen Ellison?

[JennX]

Simply this: It's going to be alright. Really, everything will be. 

[wannalivethetruth]

I would tell myself about the world events also...so i can tell them to people for money to pay for my srs and ect lol!

[melts]

Don't take things so seriously. And find this thing called the internet the moment it's available. -- you'll feel less stranded immediately.

[kyril]

Your dad loves you and he'll believe you. You don't have to hide from him.

[blackswan]

"If you could vist your child self..what would you tell yourself?"

Don't despair.  Follow your dreams and not somebody else's, and everything will turn out to be just fine.

[Nikolai_S]

I actually wrote a letter to my child self not long ago... it was a long letter.

I'd tell him he's a lot stronger than he believes. He needs to learn to trust people so he can truly live. And isolating himself now won't make the future any easier.

I'd reassure him that he does have a future, and he will be loved.

I'd tell him to stop hoping the testosterone fairy will appear at his door and actually do something about how he feels. That he's not going to change or grow out of it, and that there will be pain and heartbreak and triumph and joy - as cliched as that sounds. That he needs to be who he wants to be.

I'd tell him that yes, he is insane. But no, it won't make him fail, and it certainly doesn't make him unworthy of life.

[LordKAT]

I would tell him, the world is larger than 400 acres and you will be able to visit it one day. You will even be able to stay there.

All those dreams of figuring out how to make hormones and surgery will happen. The good par t is you won/t have to learn to hypnotize anyone.

(I really did think if I could only get a doc to agree to hormones and surgery, I would be good. I also thought the only way to do that would be to figure out how to get the hormones from a body and hypnotize a surgeon. Then I left home.)

[Northern Jane]

I would give her a big hug that would last for hours and tell her she is going to be okay, that she is right, and that it will all work out. I would also tell her that her mother is a sociopath and trying to convince her mother or win her approval is a waste of time because it will never happen. I would leave her a list of names and places, people who will help. Finally I would tell her that she will grow up to be so much more than she ever dreamed so never give up hope.

[Emmanuelle]

[...] I also thought the only way to do that would be to figure out how to get the hormones from a body and hypnotize a surgeon. Then I left home.)

LOL

I think I would just tell myself that I shouldn't believe that a karyotype-test tells you whether you're a boy or a girl... (I was 8-ish and too young not to believe this impressive doctor with his small glasses on the tip of his nose *sigh*)

And ofc, I would give the necessary stock trading tips to be able to retire by the age of 35

[blair]

Don't hide who you are, be very vocal with your parents, and work like hell to get on anti-androgens before the poison that is Testosterone can turn your body into what it will. Oh and as someone else said, buy apple stock!

[Amazon D]

i would tell myself that one day this would not be illegal or a mental disease and that i really shouldn't have been put away in haverford state mental hospital for wearing womens clothes as an early teen. I would tell myself how to transition and i would have been done as a teen and i would have not listen to the prejudice people who told me i was weird for doing what i did and i would have good memories growing up and not have been distracted with male masturbation as a way to release that nasty sex drive and i would have at least gotten my testes removed or taken some meds to stop the testes from functioning.

Today though i tell you to tell your parents the sufferings older people like me suffered due to prejudice and how it has ruined my earlier life (which regretfully affected my later life) and you would hope they would not wish the same for you.

[insideontheoutside]

I would tell my younger self:

"You're gonna have a great life and meet a great person to spend that life with. You'll find the confidence you need and you're gonna be okay. Just be yourself. Also, don't do any heavy drinking on low balconies."

[Tammy Hope]

If you could take a time warp and go have a conversation with your child self...what would you tell you? I would tell me that no matter what live your life. Dress in pretty clothes if you want..and put on makeup...and also...talk to mom about getting hormones earlier or at least anti t blockers...

"Never ever EVER believe when they tell you this is a 'sin' that you need god to forgive you and heal you of, and never ever EVER get married without telling her first"