Susan's Place Logo

News:

Please be sure to review The Site terms of service, and rules to live by

Main Menu

My FtM struggling with relationship insecurity

Started by sasha24, February 19, 2015, 01:47:56 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

sasha24

I am a straight cis-female in a relationship with a FtM. He transitioned about 8 years ago and I have only known him post-transition. We were friends for about a year and a half and began our relationship about 5 months ago. When he came out to me as transgender (just before we started dating) I was a little shocked and confused with my own feelings toward him, but in my eyes him being trans didn't change my feelings for him and decided to see where it would lead. Now looking back, I can't believe how nervous I was. He is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I am so happy and I see a long future with us together.

I'm writing because sometimes my boyfriend struggles with the fact that I have chosen to be with him. He's expressed that sometimes he asks "why would she ever want to be with me? why wouldn't she want a normal guy?". Something he just brought up is that he "can't give me things other guys can" and that I "deserve so much better than him". I know these are his insecurities, but it hurts me so much to hear the man that I love think he isn't good enough for me. I tell him I love him and try to reassure him of that, but sometimes I don't think he can really believe or accept it as fact because of how he feels about himself. This is not all the time...but enough that it concerns me and how it could impact our relationship. I want him to be able to see himself through my eyes and understand that he is the man that I love--that fact he is transgender doesn't matter to me. He has given me more happiness and love than any other guy I have ever dated or been involved with.

So I guess what I'm looking for is some advice or just a sense that I'm not alone in this. Other SO's of FtM, have you had some experience with these emotions? Is there anything you've done that has helped your man? Any FtM's--do you have any advice as to what I can do to help my boyfriend feel like he is absolutely more than good enough for me?

Thanks so much
  •  

wheek

Hi sasha24,

My SO isn't a FtM but MtF but I've experienced this. She has mentioned that she feels like a burden and that she's sorry she can't give me a normal life.  :(

I remind her that I CHOSE this.
I tell her I am more than capable of looking after myself and if I ever feel like the relationship is becoming too much I am capable of leaving.

Sometimes when she has her episodes of crying/self harm/stress I find it very difficult to cope with and I try to make it clear to her that it's not her fault, it's just one of those things that can't be helped.

We also try to communicate as much as possible and I have felt in the past that I can't bring things up with her because she goes into guilty mode and gets very upset and apologetic. :( (when you want to discuss an issue it gets very frustrating. I would rather hear why she does it or whatever, because I'm not perfect and also make mistakes!!).

I tell her she is beautiful often and surprise her with little hints so she knows that she is loved. Nothing big or grand, just little day to day things so she knows I care.

Hope everything works out ok for you :)

ETA: just realised I misread a bit but hope this post is still helpful
  •  

sasha24

Wheek,

Thanks so much for your reply, it's always nice to know you're not alone! Your experience does sound very similar to mine. I too just try to reassure him that I am secure with my choice to be with him, that I love him and I try to do little things for him as well. Recently I came up with the idea of writing him a letter that is encouraging, positive and explains why I love him so much and that I want to be by his side through the good and bad. I want to give it to him, so that any time he has feelings of self-doubt about himself or our relationship he can look to that letter and hopefully find some peace of mind.

Communication is definitely key. He would prefer to bottle his up, but I'm very persistent that certain things we need to discuss. Sometimes it hurts to talk about it, but I find we both feel better after we do. I understand being with him will have ups and downs, especially when his insecurities get the best of him...but hey that happens in any relationship, right!?

Best of luck to you and your SO and thanks again!
  •  

Dex

I am FtM and am with a cis-woman. We began our relationship pre-transition and I opened up to her about how I felt probably a year or 2 into our relationship. I've been on hormones 15 months now and she has been nothing but supportive. She has only ever been with cis-males before me, so I definitely struggle with some of those insecurities you describe your boyfriend having.

I don't have a lot of good solutions for it unfortunately. If you do find one, fill me in as I'm sure it would make my wife happy to not have me second guessing myself and my place as her man :)

All you can do is to hear him out when he feels that way. Continue to support him and affirm his place in your life. I know it's irritating and makes you feel like you aren't doing a good enough job showing him you love him. I know my wife feels like she hasn't done enough if I'm still questioning 8 years into our relationship.

Believe me when I say it is not something you are not doing nor is it something you are doing. There is a fundamental part of him that will never be the same as all the other cis-men, no matter how long he is on T or how many surgeries he has. It is hard for us to see how the women we find so phenomenal could possibly choose this life. My wife is hilarious, sexy, intelligent, kind and the most affirming counterpart to my soul that I have ever met. She completes a part of me that I never even knew could be complete. I know she feels the same about me because she tells me and shows me often. But when I measure myself up against all the other cis-men out there, I always fall short. I need her reassurance. As stated above, communication is key. And I love your idea about the letter. My wife wrote me a beautiful letter the day I got my name legally changed and I keep it in the chest pocket of my jacket always. It means so much to me. So I do think that's a great idea.

I think you're doing all the right things, just keep doing them :)
  •  

Kethry

Oh goodness.

Where to start.

When my now husband and I met online over 10 years ago I did not know he was trans. He was pre-everything and very good at avoiding telling me. I just knew him as the silly, loving, smart and sometimes moody guys that he is. After 2 years of online chat and me pushing him to talk to me on the phone and send me pictures and so on. I decided to ask him to move in with me. Even then it was a scary thing. This was a guy I had never met in person but he wasn't doing well. He had come close to suicide a few times but I had talked him down and I had fallen madly in love with his heart and mind. So he finally agreed. Two weeks before he got on a greyhound bus from the midwest to come to VA he got me on chat and told me he had to tell me something before he moved in. Something that may change how I felt about him. He then told me he was transgender. I let it sink in for a moment and my answer was "...so?" It didn't matter anymore I love him. We have been through heck since.

I told you that to tell you this. He has to come to terms with it himself. A has struggled massively with such things.  Even more so in the start. He had ups and downs so bad he had to get help to work through it. If he bottled it up I pushed him to talk. Sometimes to the point he ended up yelling at me. I would sit there and wait it out. Then ask him if he was done. When he finally worn himself out I would ask him again about his feelings. This was not a fun or easy thing. It seems to me a lot of transmen try to be TOO masculine trying to make up for something. A did this. Shaved his hair real short and walked like he was there to fight the world if it looked at him wrong. So angry. I had to tell him calm down. You are the man I want. You don't have to be anyone other than yourself. Stop worrying about what other people think of you. It has taken YEARS of him hearing this again and again. Sometimes getting help from mental health people but mostly me just never giving up.

While he does still struggle sometimes it is much less. He wears his nail polish now and lets himself just be him. He never lost his love of Hello Kitty and he use to be scared to have her on his bag or on his car. Now he has his stickers and his friends know of his love. He got a butterfly tattooed on his hand to remind himself that he is emerging of the cocoon of his own transformation.

Rupaul says "What other people think about me is none of my business"

Tell your man. Just be you and stop worrying about all that stuff. Let him know that if you ever had a problem you would talk to him about it. A had and still has trust issues. Another thing I have noticed among other transmen as well.

Guys that may read this.

We pick you because we love you. We love your hearts and minds. Bodies just give us something to touch and hug.
Also guy never forget to be a man:


You must be swift as a coursing river
With all the force of a great typhoon
With all the strength of a raging fire
Mysterious as the dark side of the moon

No mention of body parts.

-wink-

(Mulan reference) 
  •  

waleed020

Believe me when I say it is not something you are not doing nor is it something you are doing. There is a fundamental part of him that will never be the same as all the other cis-men, no matter how long he is on T or how many surgeries he has. It is hard for us to see how the women we find so phenomenal could possibly choose this life. My wife is hilarious, sexy, intelligent, kind and the most affirming counterpart to my soul that I have ever met. She completes a part of me that I never even knew could be complete. I know she feels the same about me because she tells me and shows me often. But when I measure myself up against all the other cis-men out there, I always fall short. I need her reassurance. As stated above, communication is key. And I love your idea about the letter. My wife wrote me a beautiful letter the day I got my name legally changed and I keep it in the chest pocket of my jacket always. It means so much to me. So I do think that's a great idea.
We are the pioneers in providing testking ccna certification dumps and test-king.com tutorials with  exam pass guarantee. Download our latest testkingccie mines.edu
  •  

seekingadvice

Quote from: sasha24 on February 19, 2015, 01:47:56 PM
I am a straight cis-female in a relationship with a FtM. He transitioned about 8 years ago and I have only known him post-transition. We were friends for about a year and a half and began our relationship about 5 months ago. When he came out to me as transgender (just before we started dating) I was a little shocked and confused with my own feelings toward him, but in my eyes him being trans didn't change my feelings for him and decided to see where it would lead. Now looking back, I can't believe how nervous I was. He is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I am so happy and I see a long future with us together.

I'm writing because sometimes my boyfriend struggles with the fact that I have chosen to be with him. He's expressed that sometimes he asks "why would she ever want to be with me? why wouldn't she want a normal guy?". Something he just brought up is that he "can't give me things other guys can" and that I "deserve so much better than him". I know these are his insecurities, but it hurts me so much to hear the man that I love think he isn't good enough for me. I tell him I love him and try to reassure him of that, but sometimes I don't think he can really believe or accept it as fact because of how he feels about himself. This is not all the time...but enough that it concerns me and how it could impact our relationship. I want him to be able to see himself through my eyes and understand that he is the man that I love--that fact he is transgender doesn't matter to me. He has given me more happiness and love than any other guy I have ever dated or been involved with.

So I guess what I'm looking for is some advice or just a sense that I'm not alone in this. Other SO's of FtM, have you had some experience with these emotions? Is there anything you've done that has helped your man? Any FtM's--do you have any advice as to what I can do to help my boyfriend feel like he is absolutely more than good enough for me?

Thanks so much

I wish you nothing but the best and hope that he can get through his fears.

I am a cis woman and dating a FTM for over 3 years now. He was FTM before I met him as well. I hope everything works out well for you as in the beginning I was very much the same as you - he was everything I wanted, it didn't matter that he missed certain aspects of what being with a cis male is like... I was okay with everything and I loved him.

I'm over 3 years in and I'm having the feelings your bf is worried about now and good chance even mine worries about and I came to these forums for support on that. I hope everything continues to go well for you and he.
  •  

Aazhie

I know it's cliche, but I think the BEST thing about the typical bisexual support is the idea of dating and loving a person FOR BEING THEM!  :D  You could obviously date other guys, even other trans guys!  But you sounds very much into THIS particular, special dude and it sounds like you would like him if he were cis too.  Certainly there are very specific problems for trans and genderqueer people and anyone who can't easily fit into a label or box of whatever kind.  His personality and life experiences have made him the person you want to be with.  It really sounds like you love him as a whole, not IN SPITE of him being trans.  He makes you feel good and it sounds like you do the same for him- maybe so much he feels guilty for 'wasting your time'.  It's okay to tell him your feelings, you can even say gently that at first you were a little surprised or unsure- honesty is part of good communication if you are doing it with care.  But both of you should know that EVERY human comes with strings, issues and emotions.  You can remind him that you have flaws too, if you two have ways of working things out, remind him that every couple that was ever successful and still in love has had to figure out how to deal with one another in one way or another.  You sound very caring and non-judgemental and all you can do is express these things as best you can.  If you were dating someone else you would miss a lot of things about your special guy!  If you have to write it down to make it clear, I love the idea of a letter or email as something he can have even when you aren't around.

I still have the email from my parents when I emailed them about being transgender and it still makes me cry like a big gooby dork and really little else these days does that aside from my friends and family being super awesome and loving.  You can't fix his insecurity, but there's way to express that you aren't missing out on anything.  I am a transguy that appreciates cis men, I am attracted to them greatly, but really the body/bio maleness is just a different flavor icing on the cake when your friend and lover is wonderful person that you want to share your life with.  You two are both very brave people to just live your lives, but by no means are you compromising yourself by choosing him over a cis-male!  He may not be able to change his thoughts about it overnight, but there are people out there like Dan Savage who will very happily and aggressively assert that there is not better than less than when it comes to a loving relationship as far as queer/straight/trans/cis/bi/poly/asexual whatever someone's personal deal is.  Being trans (or different in many other ways) can be extremely isolating and painful but it can create an extremely unique perspective of the world that few are lucky enough to understand or learn about.


" I was a little shocked and confused with my own feelings toward him, but in my eyes him being trans didn't change my feelings for him and decided to see where it would lead. Now looking back, I can't believe how nervous I was. He is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I am so happy and I see a long future with us together."  You can pretty much say exactly this in a little more intimate terms... No amount of outer love can fix the self-loathing, no matter what pop love songs tell us, but it can really help someone see that they are safe and okay to be themselves. I have my own lame moments of self doubt and it's a terrible burden for anyone to bear, for any reasons. 

If you think it's something he'd be willing to try, you might be able to join PFLAG or some kind of local queer or trans union.  A group of similar people, couples or otherwise could maybe help you both feel more connected and accepted?  Even just being on forums like this helps my peace of mind a lot on bad days!
You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don't try to forget the mistakes, but you don't dwell on it. You don't let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.
Johnny Cash
  •  

tocnaza

Believe me when I say it is not something you are not doing nor is it something you are doing. There is a fundamental part of him that will never be the same as all the other cis-men, no matter how long he is on T or how many surgeries he has. It is hard for us to see how the women we find so phenomenal could possibly choose this life. My wife is hilarious, sexy, intelligent, kind and the most affirming counterpart to my soul that I have ever met. She completes a part of me that I never even knew could be complete. I know she feels the same about me because she tells me and shows me often. But when I measure myself up against all the other cis-men out there, I always fall short. I need her reassurance. As stated above, communication is key. And I love your idea about the letter. My wife wrote me a beautiful letter the day I got my name legally changed and I keep it in the chest pocket of my jacket always. It means so much to me. So I do think that's a great idea.
  •  

Jacqueline

Quote from: tocnaza on September 28, 2018, 03:51:26 AM
Believe me when I say it is not something you are not doing nor is it something you are doing. There is a fundamental part of him that will never be the same as all the other cis-men, no matter how long he is on T or how many surgeries he has. It is hard for us to see how the women we find so phenomenal could possibly choose this life. My wife is hilarious, sexy, intelligent, kind and the most affirming counterpart to my soul that I have ever met. She completes a part of me that I never even knew could be complete. I know she feels the same about me because she tells me and shows me often. But when I measure myself up against all the other cis-men out there, I always fall short. I need her reassurance. As stated above, communication is key. And I love your idea about the letter. My wife wrote me a beautiful letter the day I got my name legally changed and I keep it in the chest pocket of my jacket always. It means so much to me. So I do think that's a great idea.

tocnaza,

Welcome to the site and thank you for sharing that meaningful post. I am sorry to say I think the original poster is no longer a member. This was posted in 2015. However, you had great things to add.

I also will be sharing some links for you. Mostly about welcomes and some guidelines as well as the rules of the site. Please do look them over.

Please feel free to stop by the Introductions Forum to tell the members about yourself!






Things that you should read



Once again, welcome to Susan's. I hope your journey is smooth.

Warmly,

Jacqui
1st Therapy: February 2015
First Endo visit & HRT StartJanuary 29, 2016
Jacqueline from Joanna July 18, 2017
Full Time June 1, 2018





  •  

tocnaza

Hello Jacqueline!

Thank you very much for your answer.

a greeting,

transexuales
  •