Quote from: Lesley_Roberta on October 01, 2013, 05:31:26 PM
I'm starting my journey in my 50s. But many of us do just that, start in our 50s.

Yes, same here. But I always knew, since I was about 4. But it has gotten to the point here I can't suppress it any longer. And I don't want to. So maybe some people just don't recognize it, or deny their feelings.

Makes me feel better to see I'm not the only one in my 50s making the transition. I kept putting off thinking I was too old.

Quote from: Michele on October 02, 2013, 01:50:10 PM
I truly think that there was a massive shift when the internet came on the scene and people were able to access vast amounts of information about these kinds of conditions and connect with others who could help them from the comfort of their own homes.  Had I been born two decades later, I would right now be sitting her as a girl, without question.  I was just born and raised in a time where transgender issues were just not even really on the radar for the average kid who secretly dreams of being a female.

Oh yes, I agree 100%. If all this info was out there when I was a teenager, I wouldn't be writing this right now.

Quote from: Lo on October 02, 2013, 03:24:56 PMI think it's possible, also, to feel like something is "off" your whole life, but I know that if I'd been told as a teenager that I could be another gender if I wanted, and I could have surgery or go on hormones or change my legal name, I would have thought you were nuts and forgotten about it shortly after. My discovery happened, I think, exactly when it needed to and no later.

I think this is absolutely correct.  There is a right time for us all to decide that we are going to address these issues, and that time could well be far after we realize that we have issues in the first place.  In my teens, I would have thought I was nuts if I started wearing dresses and putting on makeup.

The middle-aged me can look back and see the signs, but I'm not sure the teenage me would have acted appropriately even if given access to all the information.  I like to think that I'd be sitting here post-transition had I been born two decades later, but in reality who knows.  The pre-teen and teenage mind is a screwed up place, and sometimes it takes two decades to figure things out.  It might seem like too late, but perhaps it's the perfect time.