Hello everyone.
I am a guy in abso-freakin-lutely wrong body and I had always known this. After years of struggling, I have finally been able to start HRT. However, my biggest hiccup is that I am not not out. I am out to 2-3 friends, and I still need to be out to my parents. I have no idea on how to approach this. I live in Canada, but my parents are in India. I tried looking up on internet to find coming out experience of someone in India, but haven't come across anything significant. I've read experiences of MTFs, which don't look promising. I sometimes feel that they might accept me the way I am if I provide them with enough information about the condition, and explain how I am not 'sick'. While rest of the times I am crippled with doubt and fear. Does anyone have advice or suggestion on coming out to parents? Please drop it in. I feel I can deal with anything if my parents accept me. But well, I am scared.
I'm not a member of one of the Indian cultures, so the best I can do is give you general advice.
I'd start by educating them. Make sure they know:
* Being transgender is not something we choose.
* It's serious. Anxiety and depression are common among those who try to ignore it.
* It typically doesn't go away on it's own and no one has ever found a way to "cure" it.
* Transition is the only successful treatment. The vast majority of people who transition see a strong improvement.
In the end, you can't control how they react. If they require some adjustment, you may need to give them the space to do that.
Good luck Ethan. Please let us know how it turns out.
Thank you, Suzi. I appreciate your response.