Hello, everyone. I hope the following suffices for an introduction:
I am a 24 year old graduate student. About a year and a half ago, I realized that a large portion of my thoughts had been occupied with daydreaming that I was female, and shortly after that I started crossdressing. Upon reflection, I realize that I had been having such thoughts with increasing frequency for a few years now, starting noticeably in college (I graduated in 2010). Shortly before I started crossdressing, I began researching ->-bleeped-<-, transsexualism, and gender identity online, and began trying to figure out my (rather confusing) feelings about my own gender. I came out to my fiance after I began crossdressing, explaining to her how, throughout the week, I often (but not always, which is the confusing part) feel a strong desire to be of the opposite gender. She was, I am happy to say, very supportive, and our plans for the future remain on track (so far-- some of them rely on my passing some pesky doctorate qualifying exams). She is the only person I have come out to; I am pretty shy, and I do not at all relish the idea of telling other family or friends about how I feel, even though I may well have to tell them eventually. In fact, it took me a couple of months just to work up the courage to post on this forum. My next step, I suppose, should be to work up the courage to talk to a gender psychiatrist.
In the meantime, I hope that posting on these forums from time to time will help take the edge off of dealing with this thing. It has certainly been helpful to read other people's posts and see that I am not alone in having these feelings.
