Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Hi all,

I've been lurking around the forums here for a while, so I decided it's time for an introduction.
I'm a late transitioner, starting at 62. My earliest memories are of confusion over my gender.
I only liked to play girl games with other girls and felt like boys were really strange. I had no interest in boy games and the other boys shunned me anyways.

My parents reacted badly. My father went around to my girl friends parents and told them I was forbidden to see them. I was sent to a psychiatrist to get "cured". After a short while I realized this was something I should never speak about. Of course, I continued to feel the same, I had been born into the wrong body. My shame was continually reinforced well into my twenties. I lived my life as best I could, trying to be true to myself without pushing the boundaries too far.

My feelings never went away, In fact, they were slowly getting worse. Finally I couldn't stand it anymore. I felt the world was changing to the point where I could actually talk about it. I found a therapist with gender experience. After three sessions, she said, "You, my dear are a transsexual woman. Do you want to transition? What name would you like me to call you? How far do you want to go?" This was all the encouragement I needed. Within a week I was on HRT and starting electrolysis.

I came out to my wife first and she was stunned, of course, but told me I was lucky she was bisexual and loved me for the person I am inside and supported me 100%. She told me I was the most non-male guy she ever met and that was one of the reasons she was attracted to me.

So here I am, six months on E, 5 months on Spiro. Facial hair has been fully cleared through the third wave of regrowth. I've been full time for over a month. The few "all-male" clothes I owned are all off to Goodwill. My wife is thrilled with the changes. "Sweet body scent, soft skin, no more prickly beard, cute little sensitive boobies to play with, what's not to like?", she says.

Quote from: - Rachel - on September 28, 2014, 01:26:36 PM
I was sent to a psychiatrist to get "cured".

I remember those days well! Reparative Therapy my heiny, more like Destructive Therapy!  ::)

A big warm welcome to the family Rachel! I hope you enjoy yourself here and make many new friends. Let us know the good AND bad you experience in your life and know there is always someone here to help you out.

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Hi Rachel, welcome to Susan's! Quite a few ladies of a similar age here with similar stories to tell.

Thanks for the warm welcome. It's really uplifting to hear from the ladies who started transition very late like myself. I guess I'm not alone and there is hope.

I've read so much about families, friendships, marriages and careers destroyed, I was really worried, but the responses to my coming out have been overwhelmingly positive. Sure, there's still a lot of hate, fear and misunderstanding out there, but it's really a new world for us.

Hello Rachel. Welcome to Susans =)