Quote from: mynees on October 30, 2014, 08:50:15 PM
I started transitioning at 25... Does that make me a late transitioner or young transitioner? 

I think you are a young transitioner

I was come out to my family at age 6, it was diseaster, totally i don't want to remember all whats happen after that, all of this leaves deep scars in my soul :/
I was trying to start transitioning again at age 28, i got to TS support group in my country and what i hear from them was, well "You will never look like a women and never get passing enough" i was crushed.
Then i meet my soulmate, my only true love, i told her who i'm, truly , 3 weeks after our first date, she was very supportive since then, and thanks to her i start transitioning at age 35 ( when i got enough money to start it as it cost "millions" here :/ ) , now i'm 10 months on HRT and i never was so happy, got loads new friends ( womans mostly ) and most of them know i'm trans, i trust them and i told them, nothing changed because of that

It was very short version

I came out to my parents when I was 6-7,  then again at 13, left home at 17, emigrated to Australia, came out to my wife on our first date and finally transitioned at 58. How does it feel?

Wonderful!

Knew since I was 4, couldn't do a darn thing until I was older. Still kept the faith that at one day I could find peace. Now I'm 36 and I'm just starting. Would I be as good as if I had started when I was 14? No. But I still could be pretty good if I put effort in.

What did I gain in the meantime? I gained a career, life experience, moved to a new country, learned lots of skills, gained friends.  and had kids. Some of these I could have done if I transitioned early, but others impossible, especially the kids.

Am I completely happy that I am transitioning this late? No. But am I happy? Yes, absolutely. Better late than never.

What's it like? It's a struggle for sure, but I am independent so I don't depend on anyone, not even my parents. They'll come around and if they don't, I won't be devastated. They split when I was 10 anyway and my mom and dad were somewhat absentee. My wife is a huge challenge and we fight a lot but I think we can get over it. The kids love me unconditionally. I even dress around them and they're really not concerned. They still want to sit on my lap, sit next to me, show me their toys and want me to pick them up.

I think my transition is about the same as a teens, mostly. It has gone super smooth and very easy. I'm 35
I was socialized as a girl, not  guy. I wasn't allowed to wear girls clothes and makeup but otherwise able to be my naturally feminine self. My mom and dad split when I was 4 and I lived with my mom and sister, they are who taught me what it is to be a woman. No masculinity of any kind was ever expected of me and I never exhibited any.
So it has been more or less a non event, this transition has been. Only true parts of transition for me will be srs and romantic relationships afterwards.
So yeah it can be just as easy for a person in their 30's to transition as it is for teenagers. In my case it is.

Quote from: HelloKitty on October 31, 2014, 11:18:32 AM
My mom and dad split when I was 4 and I lived with my mom and sister, they are who taught me what it is to be a woman.

I really wish I had a sister. That would have helped me a lot. Instead I have two brothers.

Closest I had was a cousin who lived next door and my other cousins who would let me dress up and do my hair.

I wonder what the average age of transition is? I'm willing to bet a whole English pound that it's at least 35, so really late transition would be 50+

Quote from: TSJasmine on October 30, 2014, 04:34:19 PM. . . started transitioning when I was 14 . . . with the exception of not starting hormones until I was 16.

I started *wanting to transition* at your age, started *in fact* a few years later . . . at now 58 *am still in process* does that make me *late* or, perhaps like ashley_thomas, *just really slow*?

Admitted to divorce Judge three years ago *yes, am transgender* have my house & kids so still NO REGRETS!!

Starting and coming out were very hard for me. It took me 37 years to get to that point.

In reality, starting cured my dysphoria and coming out has improved my relationships with my friends and family.

Tomorrow (Nov 1st), will be one year ago that I came-out and told someone my "darkest secret" for the first time in 48 years... and will have one year of HRT in Feb 2015. The person I told was my wife... we are now separated, she left in June...   

I had been hyper-masculine all my life, but just couldn't keep living that way. So, here I am now @ 49.... 


From Aug or Sept:



From late Wed night, plz excuse the bad no-makeup bedtime pic... 


~Kira

I'm 27 now and hoping to start HRT before the end of this year although I remember watching a documentary about trans teens when I was 12 or 13 and thought it sounded kind of like me but I didn't think I would have ever actually transition so I stopped thinking about it. really wish I took a little extra time to think about that back then.

Quote from: TSJasmine on October 30, 2014, 06:24:01 PM
Well congrats on getting through it It seems a lot of people have had FFS here haha How much was yours if you don't mind me asking? & who did you go to?

To be honest it has been one of the best decisions I ever made. I went to Dr Bart van der Ven in Antwerp, off the top of my head it was about £8000. I passed OK beforehand but things are even better now, and I have more confidence which in itself helps with passing.

The worst thing about the early days of transition for me was definitely confidence. It was a really tough time, I was paralysed with fear every time I went out, so much so that my life was pretty much stay at home, straight to work, then straight back home afterwards. Perhaps the older you get the bigger that jump from one role to another becomes, simply because you've spent much longer trying to be something you aren't, and disguising any sign of your true self. Its hard to let go of that set of behaviours, they become almost like a safety blanket, and those first few months of living as your real self can feel very vulnerable. It's taken me a year to get to this point where my life is actually starting to feel full again. This is just me though, I'm not one of those people who can have confidence in any situation, though I've often wished I was.

Quote from: Squircle on October 31, 2014, 06:41:51 PM
To be honest it has been one of the best decisions I ever made. I went to Dr Bart van der Ven in Antwerp, off the top of my head it was about £8000. I passed OK beforehand but things are even better now, and I have more confidence which in itself helps with passing.

The worst thing about the early days of transition for me was definitely confidence. It was a really tough time, I was paralysed with fear every time I went out, so much so that my life was pretty much stay at home, straight to work, then straight back home afterwards. Perhaps the older you get the bigger that jump from one role to another becomes, simply because you've spent much longer trying to be something you aren't, and disguising any sign of your true self. Its hard to let go of that set of behaviours, they become almost like a safety blanket, and those first few months of living as your real self can feel very vulnerable. It's taken me a year to get to this point where my life is actually starting to feel full again. This is just me though, I'm not one of those people who can have confidence in any situation, though I've often wished I was.

8000? That's so cheap! Did you get the full works? (brow, brow lift, nose, jaw) or did you only get a small portion?

I don't think 25+ is considered a late transition.  I'd say it's a borderline young/mid-transition.  I'll be starting soon probably.  I'll be 26.  I still feel young and physically could pass for 20 easily.  I could probably tell someone I was 17 and they'd likely believe me.  I knew kids in high school who looked older at the time, more so then I do now.

I really don't have any friends anymore, so that went easily I guess.  My family?  They've been OK, but I feel like it's just like "Oh well" with them.  My mother said to me a few days ago that "I guess I lost my son" and that was pretty hard for me to hear.  My family are good people, no one would disown me, but I still feel bad about killing my mothers son.  I have a lot of female cousins, all like 17-20, one a few months older than myself, and a 29 yo sister.  My younger cousins are ultra-fem and sort of stuck up.  I haven't seen anyone since coming out.  My mother sort of outed me.  I'm kind of worried about what their reactions will be, knowing that their only guy cousin might be becoming a woman.  I was in a psych hospital for depression a couple months back, one of my uncles tried to call a few times ad then wanted to bring me to a baseball game when I got out, after finding out I was trans.  I've avoided him, but I appreciate it and will probably write him a nice letter.  Him and his wife spend their time in FL during the winter, so I'll hopefully take him up on the offer then.

I'm worried about how people will treat me during and after transition though.  I'm sort of hoping that my younger female cousins become horribly interested in me and we can become closer, but I don't know...

Quote from: Kira357 on October 31, 2014, 05:15:58 PM
Tomorrow (Nov 1st), will be one year ago that I came-out and told someone my "darkest secret" for the first time in 48 years... and will have one year of HRT in Feb 2015. The person I told was my wife... we are now separated, she left in June...   

I had been hyper-masculine all my life, but just couldn't keep living that way. So, here I am now @ 49.... 


From Aug or Sept:



From late Wed night, plz excuse the bad no-makeup bedtime pic... 


~Kira

You look great Kira 

I started coming out at 50 and transitioned at 51. It was scary, fun, sad, happy, sentimental, hard, easy, expensive, heartbreaking, heartwarming, affirming, and emotional. Some days it's hard to even get out of bed, and some days i'm flying at 10,000 feet. It's way different than my old life.

I have been full time for only about 6 weeks at this point and i'm not done yet - I am still peeling the layers off of my onion to find out whats in there.

Started the whole process back in January this year. Just the 30 years late at age 49!

We start when we start, don't over think it, just get on with where you are now!

Quote from: Eva Marie on October 31, 2014, 08:41:29 PM
You look great Kira 

I started coming out at 50 and transitioned at 51. It was scary, fun, sad, happy, sentimental, hard, easy, expensive, heartbreaking, heartwarming, affirming, and emotional. Some days it's hard to even get out of bed, and some days i'm flying at 10,000 feet. It's way different than my old life.

I have been full time for only about 6 weeks at this point and i'm not done yet - I am still peeling the layers off of my onion to find out whats in there.

Thanks Eva, you look great too !! And transition has been every one of those things that you mentioned for me too. I am not f/t yet, maybe in 6 months... I think it will be problematic at work, and may have to find something else first. Still many layers of "the onion" to peel, that's for sure... but I wouldn't trade being a woman for anything !! 

Quote from: TSJasmine on October 31, 2014, 07:34:30 PM
8000? That's so cheap! Did you get the full works? (brow, brow lift, nose, jaw) or did you only get a small portion?

Hairline, forehead (type 1) and orbital rim reduction, brow lift, nose, lip lift and chin. No jaw work. US surgeons quoted astronomical prices for the same thing, like tens of thousands of dollars.