So this morning I got my legal name change orders from the court and drove as fast as I could to the Social Security office to change my name with the feds. Got my little waiting room ticket, filled out the name change form, sat down with my cherished copy of Wind in the Willows, and expected quite a wait given the crowd in there.
After 10 minutes, I got called to a window (this is NOT fiction, I swear!). I handed the smiling lady my waiting room ticket, the court order, my request form, and my driver's license. We chatted for a minute while she pulled stuff up in the computer and then she picked my license up to examine it. She looked back at me and said, "But this is <boy name>'s license." I kind of snickered and she looked back down at the counter. Then she smacked her forehead and went "Oooooooh!" and we both had a good laugh. I told her it happened to me all the time and she agreed that was probably the case.
And so we chatted for a few more minutes while she entered everything into the computer, and she was just this lovely, radiant person who I could tell really loved people. It's always refreshing to find someone like that when you go into a service office. In fact, I'm going to write a nice letter about how well I was treated.
Then she excused herself to go get the receipt of the transaction so that I could verify the accuracy of what she entered. She brought back the paper and, given what I knew about changing information with Social Security, it still had "M" for sex. I didn't say a word, but the woman helping me looked at it said, "Oops, I forgot to change that" while circling the little M. And so, just like that, I became an F with Social Security.
All I can think is that I must have done something right to have that happen... :laugh: In any case, I'm on top of the world right now and my entire trip to Social Security took all of 20 minutes, and in the middle of the day too!
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And no, my letter of commendation will NOT include the fact that she changed my sex in the system... ;)
I am glad that it all went well for you. :)
Also, congrats again on the name change.
Quote from: Lee on June 10, 2011, 01:13:20 PM
I am glad that it all went well for you. :)
Also, congrats again on the name change.
Thank you so much, Lee! :icon_hug: And congrats to you as well for the positive outcome on your letter to the prof!! I'm so happy for you that he was cool about your request!
Congratulations and thank you for the story. It's nice to know that there are some kind, caring public servants out there.
Julie
Way cool, Zoe. I had to wait to get my Orchidetomy before they would change it.
That's really really great, Zoë, I'm very happy for you. And it couldn't have happened to a nicer person too. :) Maybe you do reap what you sow.
*big hug*
That is a wonderful event! I am very happy that it went so well for you.
Congrats to you. Changing our drivers license and social security info might not seem like a big deal to some, but for many of us it's righting a wrong that's years or decades overdue!
Way to go!
Wow, you lucked out!!!!
Sometimes the universe smiles on us. It's wonderful when it does.
Quote from: Zoë Natasha on June 10, 2011, 01:09:57 PM
She brought back the paper and, given what I knew about changing information with Social Security, it still had "M" for sex. I didn't say a word, but the woman helping me looked at it said, "Oops, I forgot to change that" while circling the little M. And so, just like that, I became an F with Social Security.
Lucky!
Exciting and happy news, Zoe! It's always such a morale boost when you can SEE your proper name on official and legal documents like that! :) I know I was on cloud 9 when I went to the DMV and walked out in less than half an hour with a temp license with a nice fem pic to accompany my legal name! :)
(I do admit a tinge of envy at the change from M to F though!)
In any case, CONGRATS!!!
That's cool. I wish everything in life went like that. :D
Thank you all so very much for the congratulations and kind words! ;D Was off helping friends all afternoon (and almost all night) but that glowy feeling never went away. Of course, now the hard work begins... bank, credit cards, cable, electric, DMV, and probably a million things I haven't even thought of. lol
Quote from: Zoë Natasha on June 11, 2011, 08:01:29 AM
Of course, now the hard work begins... bank, credit cards, cable, electric, DMV, and probably a million things I haven't even thought of. lol
yeah, the title history on vehicles was interesting for mine...essentially what I did in order to get the title changed was to give the vehicles to myself. So it showed the old me as the former owner and me as the new owner, not unlike any other intra-family transfer/gift.
Bank may want new signature cards but should let you keep everything under the same account number.
Utilities are their own specific breeds...I had a co-operative with some Capital Credit funds that I had to change over and that was the ONLY place I had real hassles back in the day (but even their general counsel conceded the change was necessary even in the absence of the court order since SSA and DPS had made the changes).
Oh, and once the credit cards are changed, go through your credit reports. You MAY be able to get the old name off of there as well...but it will also take a few months for the new name to populate across all of your tradelines.
good luck...and congrats on having found a cooperative government worker- they do make life much simpler ;)
My legal name and gender changes were the most empowering events of my life. To walk out of the DMV with that wonderful, lovely, fabulous new Driver's License with the "F" on it AND a picture of a pretty girl was a moment I'll treasure forever. It really gave me some swagger or, perhaps I should say, some wiggle... :laugh:
You'll find that your name is listed in places you didn't even remember existed and it will be quite the job to get everything changed over. But, it's a wonderful job.
Congratulations on achieving a wonderful accomplishment. Best to you going forward.
Thank you, Ann, Joyce, and Valerie! ;D Hopefully I won't run into too many surprises while changing documents, but I'm also ready for anything. That advice about the car title was great, because I had been pondering how to handle mine.
Hopefully, I can use this empowering feeling Joyce talks about to find me a new job. :laugh: Valerie, work shouldn't be a problem considering I lost my job a month ago (though I still need to inform them of my name and gender changes for this year's tax purposes). It wouldn't have been a problem while I was still working either because I transitioned at the job and universities have pretty liberal policies on that sort of thing. In fact, my boss said that if there was any legal way to keep me as an employee, she would do it. Unfortunately, you have to either be a student or on six-month temporary position with the state that expressly forbids you working for the state for six months after your contract ends. I graduated in December so I was employed this past semester on that temporary contract.
But now that I know the SSA has me listed as female, I can now confidently check the F box on any job apps I fill in from this point onward, and I just got a good lead today that I can't wait to follow up on Monday. ;D
Quote from: Zoë Natasha on June 11, 2011, 03:49:32 PM
...
But now that I know the SSA has me listed as female, I can now confidently check the F box on any job apps I fill in from this point onward, and I just got a good lead today that I can't wait to follow up on Monday. ;D
That is the most empowering feeling. Even though I don't have a job right now, it is still an empowering feeling of marking the correct one. ;D
Quote from: Janet Lynn on June 11, 2011, 03:56:33 PM
That is the most empowering feeling. Even though I don't have a job right now, it is still an empowering feeling of marking the correct one. ;D
I can imagine! ;D Just the thought of doing it is reinvigorating my job search at just the right time. I needed this boost quite badly!
So now things are in correct order, a beautifull official name for a beautifull lady.
Congrats honey.
gosh I was expecting this story to be a nightmare event but thankfully not! Awesome news!
this is something I need to do in regards to change of sex with SS, gender is done but the sex marker is a whole other issue. I know in Australia they need to change the details at a state and federal level (from what I've heard) which sucks because when you ask someone at SS if the changes they just made will change on all their systems they say yes and then you receive a letter with your old details ...it's crazy here so unprofessional. I hope it's not so bad over there!