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How many marriages survive a person's transition?

Started by Rya, December 13, 2014, 05:50:30 PM

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Rya

I'm still at the early stages of figuring out what I'm feeling, whether I'm trans or not. I'm really scared because I want to keep my marriage with my wife. She's my best friend and we've been married 15 years. We have seven children together. She's made it clear that she cannot stay with me if I pursue becoming a woman. I get that. She didn't sign up to be married to a woman.

A lot of people have told me that marriages can survive when one of the partners transitions. But so far all the stories I end up reading or hearing about have ended up in broken marriages. I don't see any way that I can ever be a woman and still keep my marriage. But I desperately want to be wrong. Are there any positive stories where the marriage survived that someone can tell me about?


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Jill F

My marriage survived and is quite honestly better than ever.  I know I'm extremely lucky, but it can happen.

I was very open about everything as soon as my dysphoria hit the breaking point and I never kept anything from her.   We have been best friends and inseparable since the moment we met in 1992.

The fact is that now that I've found happiness, my wife no longer worries about coming home to find me being depressed, angry or at room temperature.  It certainly takes some adjustment time for her, and giving her space to take it in is key.  Please don't overload her with all of your trans issues at once, and don't just talk about your trans-related things.   Make sure you still do everything you used to do and don't deprive her of things she likes or needs.

Hugs,
Jill 
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peky

the answer partially depends on how you define transition.


I know quiet a few members here whose marriages hav survived a transition. However, it is only a kind of partial transition...
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Ms Grace

It can happen but depends on how flexible the sexual identity of the partner is. I was never in a relationship when I transitioned but I know that had I married one of the two girlfriends I'd ever had that it would have self destructed because there was no way she'd cope with it. Our reasonably strong and affectionate relationship broke down once I told her about my earlier trans history and, even though I was adamant I was never going to try transitioning ever again she just utterly wigged out. I think it challenged her sexual identity to know she was in a relationship with a "male who identified as female". And that is the way with many partners - if they are strongly hetro then even a whiff of transition can cause real problems.
Grace
----------------------------------------------
Transition 1.0 (Julie): HRT 1989-91
Self-denial: 1991-2013
Transition 2.0 (Grace): HRT June 24 2013
Full-time: March 24, 2014 :D
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Natalie

Those statistics I believe were less than 7% of marriages survive a person's transition...or somewhere around there.
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Jenna Marie

The survey currently considered the gold standard in trans research, "Injustice at Every Turn," which was conducted by The National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (and which surveyed 6,450 Americans who were transgender or non-gender conforming) says that, contrary to the accepted wisdom, only 45% of people reported that their relationship ended due to coming out or gender non-conformity. Among those who actually went on to transition, the rate is 55% of relationships ending.

http://www.thetaskforce.org/static_html/downloads/reports/reports/ntds_full.pdf

I'm one who is still married, and actually we're happier together post-transition (and by "transition" I mean I even had GRS a couple years ago); I just spent the day with another couple where the wife wasn't even especially unhappy about her partner transitioning and they're clearly very much in love. There are no guarantees, of course, but it's definitely possible. I think the tragic stories are just often the most told/remembered, which is is kind of human nature.
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Rya

Thank you everyone for your answers. These are really helpful. Jenna, thank you especially for the link. Looks like I've got some reading to do! :D


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ashley_thomas

Ours is making it and we are happier now than ever. 
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Jeneva

Our is still going and once I get the right mix of meds will be stronger than ever.   We were much stronger after than before transition.  Everything was great until the work place destroyed my life and mind.

We've actively tried to help a couple of couples locally, but they transwomen have left their marriages (NOT the cis-women) because they were straight.
Blessed Be!

Jeneva Caroline Samples
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Shodan

Quote from: Jill F on December 13, 2014, 06:14:11 PM
My marriage survived and is quite honestly better than ever.  I know I'm extremely lucky, but it can happen.

I was very open about everything as soon as my dysphoria hit the breaking point and I never kept anything from her.   We have been best friends and inseparable since the moment we met in 1992.

The fact is that now that I've found happiness, my wife no longer worries about coming home to find me being depressed, angry or at room temperature.  It certainly takes some adjustment time for her, and giving her space to take it in is key.  Please don't overload her with all of your trans issues at once, and don't just talk about your trans-related things.   Make sure you still do everything you used to do and don't deprive her of things she likes or needs.

Hugs,
Jill

This pretty much sums up my experience as well. As a couple, we're much happier than we used to be for  a long long time.




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Donna Elvira

Quote from: Shodan on December 15, 2014, 07:35:24 AM
This pretty much sums up my experience as well. As a couple, we're much happier than we used to be for  a long long time.

... and I can say the same thing. Together for almost 10 years and stronger than ever as a couple following a complete transition.
It was however a second mariage and I was very upfront with my feminine side from the beginning. At the time neither of us knew it would end up with me transitioning though.
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KimSails

My marriage seems to be surviving quiet well as I transition.  This is the second marriage for both of us.  My first marriage didn't survive me telling her I had been cross-dressing. In my second, I came out to my wife while we were engaged but not yet married. 

Initially, she was very accepting, and actually started encouraging me to dress. She said, however, that she couldn't stay with me if I transitioned because she wasn't a lesbian and a healthy sexual relationship is very important to her.  At the time transitioning was not even remotely being considered. So no issue there!

Two years later and I am solidly in the early stages of transition. We both very much plan to stay together.  My wife is my biggest supporter, and she would actually be saddened if I didn't transition.

Kim

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
-Unknown 

~~~~~/)~~~~~
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BunnyBee

Quote from: Natalie on December 13, 2014, 07:25:30 PM
Those statistics I believe were less than 7% of marriages survive a person's transition...or somewhere around there.

This sounds about right, if not high.

You have to think about what it puts your partner through.  I'm amazed any survive.
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ImagineKate

I'll be the counterexample here. Ours may not survive. My wife is very much cis hetero. We may remain friends, but as it is, she claims that my transition is causing her extreme discomfort. She did not marry a woman and she doesn't want to be a lesbian. This is true.

Since I started transition she's always inspecting me looking for clues if I'm wearing something to work (where I am not fully out yet but I push the limit of the dress code) or if I'm buying clothes etc. Always asking about my appointments for electrolysis, therapy or endo, not in a concerning way but a prying way. Then the worst is that she always asks if I found a man yet. Then asking if I want to donate my man clothes to the church yet. Then she mopes around and claims she is depressed. She very well may be but she should seek help. I have tried but I am not a dr or psych.

Then she's asked about divorce a good few times...

She sees my developing breasts which are getting harder to hide under clothes and she gets depressed all afternoon. It's like how I was at the height of my dysphoria.

She never makes it easy.  So our marriage may not survive. I might have to resign myself to that. And I am thinking I might just stay single for a while, even post SRS when I do get around to that.
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BunnyBee

1) most women married to a man are hetero, now they're being asked to be in love and be attracted to a woman.
2) in the months or years leading to this relationship crisis, their husband has been depressed and distant and probably some anger, due to extreme discomfort, issues too, which means the relationship on rocky ground leading into it.
3) in the midst of the crisis, her partner is utterly self-absorbed.  It isn't a knock, you just have to be.  Often transitioners are in survival mode cause they waited too long, it's focus on their self or die.  You're dealing with some intense changes and navigating dangerous waters, there is no room to consider much other than yourself.
4) ambiguous grief.  as you transition, the man she fell in love with disappears and is replaced with this other person.  She feels the loss, but you aren't exactly gone, so closure is impossible.  The feelings linger.   It's so hard on her, meanwhile you're self-absorbed
5) sex?  Serious incompatibilities on both sides.
6) often the transistioner experiences a shift of some kind in their sexuality.  This is a problem for both, depending on how big the shift.

Those are just the big ones I can think of, much more going on that is just completely against your relationship working out.  If you look at it from her perspective, it's just too much to ask in most cases.  It's not impossible because it has been done, but prepared to work very hard when you may not have the wherewithal to work on anything but yourself and still probably have it not work out.

Not trying to be a downer, just trying to show reality.

Oh PS—a split can often be the best thing for BOTH of you, even if it doesn't seem like it now.
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ImagineKate

It gets more complicated if you have kids because you have to deal with them, as well as possible side effects such as bullying in school.
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BunnyBee

I didn't even think about how kids affect things.   Makes it harder emotionally I'm sure from several angles.
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Tessa James

We can speculate but we do not know about all of your personal circumstances or strengths for taking on this journey.  I think a fair question to ask any transitioner is; "would you stay if your partner was the one in transition?"

A long term marriage with a big family would be challenging for anyone while the fundamentals of honesty and good communication are critical for any relationship. 

We have been together for over 41 years, celebrating our 40th anniversary last month.  We have allowed ourselves maximum freedoms while also expecting maximum support to make it work.  Without a crystal ball we can not be certain of the future and it's OK to not take each other for granted.

There are other transitions in a married couples life that can be just as hard.  Loosing your health, a job, home or child for instance?  We adapt or move on and it can be done while still loving each other.
Open, out and evolving queer trans person forever with HRT support since March 13, 2013
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Broken-hearted

Quote from: Tessa James on December 15, 2014, 01:59:44 PM
We can speculate but we do not know about all of your personal circumstances or strengths for taking on this journey.  I think a fair question to ask any transitioner is; "would you stay if your partner was the one in transition?"

A long term marriage with a big family would be challenging for anyone while the fundamentals of honesty and good communication are critical for any relationship. 

We have been together for over 41 years, celebrating our 40th anniversary last month.  We have allowed ourselves maximum freedoms while also expecting maximum support to make it work.  Without a crystal ball we can not be certain of the future and it's OK to not take each other for granted.

There are other transitions in a married couples life that can be just as hard.  Loosing your health, a job, home or child for instance?  We adapt or move on and it can be done while still loving each other.

I asked this question. All I got as a reply was probably not.  It just makes me wonder about how long I can just brush off some responses.
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Tessa James

With children in the picture the focus, for me, becomes more about how we negotiate changes with love and support.  If you have children in common you will ALWAYS have a part of your life that is shared and impacts the entire family.  I was married once long ago and we had two children.  My being trans was then an unacknowledged but real part of our break up.  That woman refers to me as "it" and I am sorry for the pain in her life that still causes her to lash out at me.  We hung in there till we could not stand each other and I cannot recommend waiting till there is nothing left but hurt and hate.
Open, out and evolving queer trans person forever with HRT support since March 13, 2013
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