I've been reading a lot of threads in section and I'm pleasantly surprised by the positive reactions in most of them.  One thing I noticed is hardly anybody ever mentions their family laying the guilt trip on them and trying to convince them of a million different reasons for why transitioning is a bad idea.  Because I think that's what I'd encounter if I decide to come out to my family.  I can easily see my parents telling me how badly this will screw up my life, job, financial situation, etc.  And who knows, maybe they would be right.  I'm worried about those things as well.

My parents also care way too much about what other people think.  I'm sure they'd be embarrassed having to explain my situation to everyone they know.  But again, I never see anyone else ever talk about this in their posts.  Do these issues come up for any of you and how did you respond to them?

Mine were upset at first and threatened to disown me. The more I educated them on gender Dysphoria and by watching me become a calmer nicer human being with genuine emotions, they came to a begrudging acceptance. Now I am outgoing and have friends who accept me and live each day fully. By watching the changes they now accept me fully just as my son has. You have to remember that telling them will give them what us Paramedics call Psychogenic Shock. The symptoms of this are denial, anger, loss of emotions, and argumentative demeanor  and several others. You have to understand in a way, they are going through transition as well as you. When you tell them just be calm, respectful and non argumentative. Let it sink in before you judge their reactions which might be bad at first, but mellow over time. Control yourself and don't let things get out of hand to the point no amount of repair can fix.

I came out recently but only 'partially', but the reaction I got was neither positive or negative.

QuoteI can easily see my parents telling me how badly this will screw up my life, job, financial situation, etc.  And who knows, maybe they would be right.  I'm worried about those things as well.

She's gonna tell me that if I ever let them know about my intentions, I know it..

I'm expecting these kind of reactions too

"You're so good as a guy, why'd you want to change?"
"It's just a phase"
"That's just crazy talk"
"Be happy with what you got, lot's of people go through worse stuff but they don't complain"
"You're just low on self-confidence, so you're starting to have these thoughts"
"You don't even know what you're talking about"
"You're faking it"
"Shut the hell up"
"What's your uncle/aunt/cousin gonna think of us? we're gonna be laughing stocks"

My parents care way, way way too much about what other people think, I find it hard to believe that some parents can be so accepting, even though I know the stories are true.

Hey, I'm just being brutally honest here.

My parents took awhile to get over it.  They seem to be 100% on board now, but they definitely weren't at first.

I sent them a carefully worded email about a year ago, telling them that I had been miserable and uncomfortable my entire life, that everything changed after being on E for three months and that I intended to transition fully.

Their response (paraphrased)- "We figured you had some kind of issues, but this goes way beyond what we had guessed.  After much thought, we have decided not to disown you.  You're still our kid after all.  We fear for your safety and wish you would reconsider.  Please don't tell the following people, because we aren't equipped to handle the fallout.  Oh, and we don't think we can ever get ourselves to call you Jill."

So (of course!) I had my gossipy cousin tell those people.  So I lost a drunkle whom I am dead to now.  BFD.  Everyone else was fine with it.

Once my parents got a load of me and saw the changes for the better, their attitude shifted to full acceptance.  They call me Jill now.

When I told my mother:
-Did you think about [my sister]
-What about [my brother] how is he going to take it
- You can't tell mum or my sisters till I've had a chance to deal and I don't think I ever can.
-What's wrong living as a guy
-I can't deal with this right now

Now her phone has been going to message bank and she is not answering text. So some times they can react well and understand it's the best for you other times it is a reflection on them as a parent.

When I told my mom:
"She's gonna be freakenstein!"
"I should've had an abortion!"
"I couldn't handle it if you had surgery."

My father:
"Why can't you just be the 'dominate male figure' in a relationship with a girl?"
"God made you female, you should be female."
"What about all these gays and lesbians you see on TV at parades and stuff? They're happy with their gender." (My response to this was "Because they don't have gender dysphoria.")

I haven't discussed it any further with either of them, though I want with all my heart to discuss it with my mother, who is one of my best friends. My friends (except two) have been as supportive as they can be. They're making attempts to call me by male pronouns, and by Reuben, or any nickname derivative. As for the other two, one started ranting about how "surgeons don't care about what they do to your body, this is a consumer society, they just want your money.." blah blah. He just likes me and doesn't want them to do top surgery because he loves my bust size.  As for the other friend, she still calls me by female pronouns and says "I've always called you Sam so that's what I'm gonna call you."

I told my dad about me wanting to transition about six months ago when I, rather impulsively, left out a letter that he could read while I was at school. Luckily my dad is a very mellow and accepting person so it went over about as well as it could have, but I still haven't told my mom yet. I'm really worried about telling my mom because she could very well freak out, or she might have a similar reaction as my dad did. I really have no idea how she'll take it and neither does my dad. Honestly though I'm expecting her to try to talk me out of it like "can't you wait until you move out?" or "Aren't you going to get made fun of at school?", etc., etc. I have to tell her soon though because my dad doesn't want me to start HRT until after we tell my mom.

https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,143167.0.html

The following above was my big coming out thread.  It sort of highlights everything that I went through and my mom said to me. To be honest, the only thing that's made things easier was time. This is only my experience and sort of ignores my father as we have a very complicated relationship.

I really wish you all the best with this and hope they will come around in time.