So... my name is Beth. My Hebrew name is Bracha, and that's what I generally use when "Beth" is already taken.
Let's see... I was born in 1963, transitioned in 1995, had surgery in 1996, met my partner online a couple months later, moved in with her at the end of 1997, had our commitment ceremony in 1998, and our daughter was born in 2000. It's been a busy last 12 years.
Like many people, I've always known there was something weird, since my earliest memories (3-ish). I never thought I was a girl. They told me the definition (genitals) and I had eyes, so I knew I was a boy. But I also knew it was wrong.
I wasn't into sports or dolls. I was into books. And I was a loner, so I made the one required friend per year (the minimum to keep from being treated even worse than I was), and that was it.
I don't remember when I first learned about sex changes. I know it seemed a little freaky to me. I assumed I was kind of nuts, feeling the way I did, and I certainly didn't associate myself with transsexuals. Ick. <grin>
Anyway, I had a crush on this girl when I was 12, and when I was 20, we started going out. And when I was 24, we got married and moved to Israel (I'm Jewish, and I became Orthodox when I was in college). I told her a few months later. We divorced after 8 years of marriage, and I went full time overnight on the flight from Tel Aviv to New York.
I run an e-mail list for Orthodox Jewish (or formerly Orthodox) transfolk, and we may be having a get-together later this year.
That's all I can think of just now. See you all around.
