I'm 30 years old and am currently attending college with intent to become a physicist (No, really!). For as long as I can recall, my internal model of myself has always been primarily within the female realm. Unfortunately, nature saw fit to give me a Y chromosome, and so... Well, I'm certain the forum members here don't need a lengthy explanation about how I feel about my gender.
I have been acknowledging my dysphoria for about a decade, but it has always been something that I have consistently internalized and kept secret. Maybe it was the way my eyes have lit up every time I've met another transgendered person. Maybe it was turning the big three-oh. Maybe it was listening to Neil DeGrasse Tyson talk about his colleague who is transitioning. Maybe it was Caitlyn. I can't quite place what happened in my head that finally made me admit, "You know there's only one way you're going to be happy. Just one way you'll ever truly be able to love yourself." I can say, however, that I've been feeling much better since admitting it, not only to myself, but also to my sister and to my friends.
I am a woman, and my name is Delaney.