What age did you become aware that transition was physically possible?

Deanna_Renee · September 28, 2009, 08:51:10 AM

For me, it was 47 when I (DUH) discovered that transition was even a reality (that was about 3 months ago). Over the years I had heard the terms transgender and transsexual, had heard about sex changes and the like, but never really connected the dots, I had never associated those terms, conditions, and surgeries with the fact that I had always thought I wanted to be a girl and that I had always had this 'need' to dress like a girl.

I had been so deep in denial about myself that, I think, I completely refused to acknowledge the evidence that kept popping up that this is who I am and that there is a viable solution. It wasn't until I got laid off and stopped working 18-20 hours a day (to avoid the desire to fantasize, etc) and became extremely depressed and suicidal. I had also begun obsessing over becoming a girl so much that I just had to look into the possibility - lo and behold, there it was... Susans.org. My salvation, my solution.

Now I am working diligently towards my goal of finally fulfilling my lifelong desire. For some of us, it takes a good stiff kick in the head with a very big and heavy cast iron boot to get us to see ourselves. DUH!

Deanna

Suzy · September 28, 2009, 08:57:18 AM

Wow! You mean such a thing is possible?

(sorry)

Kristi

Shana A · September 28, 2009, 09:07:27 AM

Quote from: Kristi on September 28, 2009, 08:57:18 AM
Wow! You mean such a thing is possible?

(sorry)

Kristi

ROFL!

I voted under age 12 (I am currently age 45-54).

I heard hushed whispers about various people when I was a kid; Christine Jorgensen, Renee Richards, Jan Morris... Wendy Carlos made the biggest impression because I'd listened to and loved her Switched on Bach record, first released under the name of Walter.

Z

lisadear · September 28, 2009, 09:22:51 AM

I knew I wanted to live as a girl from a young age, But didn't know it was possible till age 14. Some how one day in health class our teacher told us the story of Tula. Lets see used to be a boy, than was in Playboy. I knew then things could really change for me to someday too. That was about 17 years ago, and now I'm finally starting my own change.

Natasha · September 28, 2009, 05:13:24 PM

i don't remember when exactly but it was in elementary school.

MaggieB · September 28, 2009, 05:31:44 PM

I remember reading about it in a Playboy magazine back in the early 1970s when I was in college. For some reason, I assumed that it was experimental and only a few people in history ever got one.

Skip ahead, thirty years, when I became aware that dealing with transsexuality was what was happening to me. My wife researched my need to underdress on the net and said to me, "You are a transgendered person." She was really upset about it and I immediately knew she was right. I had no idea about it and then dove into the net to find all about it. That was ten years ago.

The information I found led me to analyze my thoughts better and I realized that I was a transsexual. Now, I think I was so much in denial that I needed a sledge hammer to wake me up. Honestly, I didn't have a clue why I needed to be feminine.

Maggie

Miniar · September 28, 2009, 05:37:47 PM

I remember.
I was 15 years old and there was a news piece on television about the first Icelandic transsexual to have SRS.
Her name is Anna and she is a ship-"mechanic". That is to say, she worked running the engine room in a large fishing vessel. We're blog-friends on an Icelandic blog site.
I ran into her a few years later and didn't recognize her, it was in a bar. I remember what I said to her, cause she is just a touch taller than I am. I said "wow, so rare to meet another girl in my height category" (Being as I was trying to be a girl at the time).
She smiled and laughed and I walked back to the other nutbars at my table and she slipped into the ladies room.

I haven't thought about that in years. ^^

Nathan. · September 28, 2009, 06:23:06 PM

Don't know about mtfs, but I knew about them way before I realised that you could be ftm.

Thomas Beatie was the first transguy that I had heard of.

So I picked 13-17.

Arch · September 28, 2009, 07:29:58 PM

Quote from: Kristi on September 28, 2009, 08:57:18 AM
Wow! You mean such a thing is possible?

Kristi, now I understand that secret little smile in your avatar pic.

K8 · September 28, 2009, 08:03:43 PM

I was 9 when news of Christine Jorgensen's surgery hit the press in 1952/53. I was still naive enough to think that my change would come naturally, since it was natural that I should be a girl.

Finding out how to get a "sex change" was next to impossible, the cost was prohibitive, the stigma beyond anything I could handle. And from an early age I was good at suppressing things.

- Kate

V M · September 28, 2009, 08:30:31 PM

Quote from: K8 on September 28, 2009, 08:03:43 PM
And from an early age I was good at suppressing things.

- Kate

I learned about suppression at an early age also

Suzy · September 28, 2009, 08:43:18 PM

Quote from: Virginia Marie on September 28, 2009, 08:30:31 PM
I learned about suppression at an early age also

OMG Me too! I buried enough of this to start a toxic waste dump.

I just remember feeling in awe of Renee Richards when everyone else was making fun of her.

Kristi

Korlee · September 28, 2009, 08:51:59 PM

Thanks to having access to the internet even if it was 56k. I learned at a very young age and started to look around and read. I did not fully understand the costs but I knew it was possible to make it happen. Tried a few times without success. Not being able to do anything about it and knowing about it made it all far worse.

Shana A · September 28, 2009, 09:28:15 PM

Quote from: K8 on September 28, 2009, 08:03:43 PM
And from an early age I was good at suppressing things.

- Kate

I learned that all too well!

Quote from: Kristi on September 28, 2009, 08:43:18 PM
I just remember feeling in awe of Renee Richards when everyone else was making fun of her.

Kristi

I had the same regarding Wendy Carlos, everyone else was making ignorant comments about her, I admired (and longed for) what she was doing!

Z

Jeatyn · October 02, 2009, 11:28:26 PM

I only knew of MTF for a long time and even then I thought they were just extreme drag queens who got breast implants. I knew nothing of hormones, I just thought they naturally looked like that or worked out in a certain way or something I dunno

Aged about 17 there was an interview with Buck Angel in a magazine (Bizarre) and that was the first FTM I'd ever heard of, but still it was never something I thought would happen to me. It seemed like an extreme fetish sort of thing (understandable considering he's a porn star)

Age 19, I decided for some reason I was going to play a joke on a friend and convince him I was born a man - I did research in to how it actually worked so I could be a convincing troll. I came across FTM stuff too and I was like, HOLY CRAP, IT'S ACTUALLY POSSIBLE?

I came out like a month later and kicked myself for never having thought of it sooner

chrysalis · October 03, 2009, 05:05:44 AM

I was young, right around 12 actually, and I think it was on TV or something. I can't really remember exactly when. Of course when I first heard about it I acted like I hated it, but really it was fascinating to me. When I was younger I used to spend a lot of time thinking about how much I looked like a girl, and this seemed like it would be "cool"...I guess. I don't know, it was fascinating, and I've been thinking about it ever since.

Alex_C · October 03, 2009, 02:19:26 PM

Somehow I knew you could "take hormones" and "change into a guy" at about age 19, I remember talking with a friend about it in the Army, lol.

Jay · October 03, 2009, 05:16:56 PM

Quote# age 13-17 (I am currently age 18-24)

There was a program on TV about it! And I was like... AHHHHHHHH thats me!!!!!!

Jay

JonasCarminis · October 04, 2009, 04:06:12 AM

i saw random things about trans kids on TV and stuff when i was little, but it never clicked, then i met a MTF on an unrelated forum and was like "WOAH... can i have a penis?!" then i just started doing a ton of research. (and to my dismay, no, no penis. at least not how i meant it in the first place)

i was 17 when i knew i could medically transition and im 18 now.

thestory · October 04, 2009, 04:19:11 AM

I was about 10 or 11. I used to watch tons of documentaries as a kid and ones on transitioning fascinated me just as much as the rest. I watched with some envy and now I understand why.

News:

What age did you become aware that transition was physically possible?

What age did you become aware that transition was physically possible?

Suzy

Natasha

MaggieB

Suzy

Korlee

Alex_C

JonasCarminis

thestory