Well I should start from the beginning, I am a woman trapped in a mans body.  I have been interested in women's clothes since I was 6.  My parents caught me numerous times wearing my mothers clothing.  I would say I have always been more of a tom boy than a girly girl in early life.  I learned in my early childhood to get good at hiding my other side.  I would say that Elementary School was hardest for me since at that time I was not fully conforming to my gender the other boys noticed and teased me.  By the time I went into Jr High I had conformed and had lots of friends.  In High School I played football, wrestling and track but in secret I always wanted to be hanging out with the other girls.  Of course that is a two edged sword for me, while all the girls I knew at that time were interested in boys, I felt like a girl and was interested in girls.   I was caught with my clothes stash from time to time and my parents used to ask me why, but I had no answer, I did not know why I wanted to always be wearing women's clothes.

After High School I went into the Army and was successful there.  When I got out of the Army I started to dress in private again and kept the secret from everyone I knew.  When I met my ex-wife I told her about my desire to wear women's clothes.  She did not have a problem with it and we eventually got married and had a son.

When my mother died I got very depressed and no one in my family noticed, it caused a rift in my marriage since I withdrew from everything.  Eventually once I got better I saw what had become of my marriage and asked for counseling but she was not willing so we got divorced.  While in the process of getting divorced I started to wonder why I had always had these desires for the feminine side of me.  I found some TG sites and their stories were so close to mine it was unreal.  I suddenly realized that I had always wanted to be a woman.

Armed with that knowledge I did more research on the internet and finally found a therapist to help me work out these issues.  Through therapy I found I desired to become a woman full time.  About one and half months ago I was able to start HRT and am looking forward to one day going full time.

I have told some friends and relatives so far and all have taken it will that I have told.  I am planning on moving to Chicago in a year or two so I can go full time and finish my transition.  The place I currently live has no laws protecting gender identity so I could be fired if I tried to transition on the job.

Well thanks for reading my story and I'll see some of you in chat from time to time

Welcome to Susan's forums, Gabby!

I too encountered my "transsexual epiphany" from reading other people's experiences on the web. With more and more dismay I realized, "Hey!  Me too!"  I started therapy a few months later and now I'm impatiently waiting for my hormone letter.

I hope you find this forum as helpful, or more, than I have.  The information is extensive, the advice is usually right on (if not, wait a bit, no one here seems shy about expressing their difference of opinion), and the humor can lighten up what we go through, a subject whose depths I sometimes fall into and get lost in.

I'll be looking forward to reading more of your insights to what we are all sharing and am, again, happy to say,

WELCOME!
helen

Hello Gabby and welcome to Susan's.

I'm sure that you will this site to a friendly place to be.  Everyone here is very helpful and friendly with stories similar to yours.  As witnessed by your activity you are already participating in the site forums and that's what Susan's is all about - Help others, providing support and advice, and a safe place to be who you are.

Please be sure to read the rules and be sure to explore the Wiki as it is loaded with information.  And i would be remiss if I didn't mention Susan's Chat, a super place to interact with friends and acquaintances.

So relax and enjoy your stay.

Steph

Hello Gabby,
It's good to meet you. I enjoyed your introduction.
It was only latter in life that I figured out that I was transgender too.
I will be looking forward to reading more postings from you.

Jillieann