General Transgender Discussion

To get everyone up-to-date; I have been in transition for four years, and am now a post-op woman living full time as such. Before and during my transition I suffered from a great deal of anxiety, largely due to my gender issues. These issues came to a head four years ago when my depression became so severe I was not able to make it through university. Through therapy, medication, and living my life the way I wanted I became a much happier and well adjusted person. I thought that I was finally well enough to take on school full time. After some success in arts administration I decided to take an Arts and Culture Management course at MacEwan College. I started part time …

Hello, I go by the name, Melody. I am 43yo, confused GID with a wife and 3 kids. When I was about 6 I wore my sister's dress, and loved it. At, 10 I would wear my mother's dresses. By 12, puberty began. I started to notice changes to my body which I did not understand. I thought that my penis was wearing away, and that my vagina would be exposed. I also thought I was growing breasts. I was both excited, and fearful with what everyone would think. I use to feel around for where my vagina was suppose to be. Throughout my teen years, I secretly crossdressed. Then, in my last year of HS, bought my own women's pants and shirt. I actually went to the ma…

Hi everyone, I am really getting upset with my doctor in Los Angeles. He doesn't prescribe hormones. He charges $65 for an injection of estradiol+progesterone that he claims last a month. He charges another $70 for a 10 minutes consultation if I have questions. he said is not necessary to measure the levels of hormones to find out the right dose. I am just confuse about if I am going to the right doctor. I feel like I am getting rip off and not getting anywhere. I wonder if i would be better off just going to a regular endocrinologist.

As I have occasionally commented before, I am disappointed with my breast size. The options seem to be using pads or breast enhancers in my bras and/or wearing padded bras or just accepting relatively small breasts and wear unpadded bras. I know many male to female transsexuals have implants, but I have decided not to. Until recently I usually wore unpadded bras since developing some breasts. I realize many genetic women are also disappointed with their breast size and wear pads or padded bras to enhance their feminine appearance. So I have often lately been wearing pads or breast enhancers in my unlined bras. The difference in bust projection is, of course, noti…

Hi everyone! My name is Jennifer. I'm 29 years old and I've been living as my true self since Christmas. I guess you could say it was a wonderful Christmas present to myself. It seems that all of my major moments have happened on extraordinary days, but I didn't intend it to be that way. The day that I finally decided that I was going to be true to myself was July 4th. Independence Day now has a much greater significance to me. :)

Hey all. I am very interested in music, I have been all my life. I thought this was kinda funny and thought i'd share, I was listening to a song that I have listened to probably thousands of times before and for the first time I thought to myself that it sounded like what we go through when we're struggling with our GID and haven't told anyone yet. :-) Anyone else had any experiences like that? the Song i'm refering to is "Jane Doe by Within temptation" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFswItQAKR0 :-D The lyrics are below Why, you just won't leave my mind Was this the only way I couldn't let you stay Run away, hide away the secrets in your mind S…

I've been thinking about this puzzle for a long time. A while back, I asked about coping strategies for baby hunger: http://tgguide.com/message/index.php?showtopic=3565 Recently, I came back with an update, about my guinea pigs: http://tgguide.com/message/index.php?showtopic=4303 I'm surprised the topic of maternal desires hasn't resonated more with the MTFs here. I seem to be the only one asking about such things, and only a few people seemed to understand. Much of what I have read anywhere is about the desire to be pregnant, give birth, and breastfeed--the physical aspects of motherhood. I have seen little about the common female desire to love and nur…

Ahh I'm confused lately. I'm like looking in the mirror and seeing that I'm more attractive and feminine slowly but surely, which is good, but the question is... How do you tell if you're becoming who you, on the inside, really are, or if you're just excited when you look in the mirror because you see a pretty girl? I guess this isn't a problem for straight girls, but still... I look downstairs like after a shower n see stuff that I don't think should be there but is that me seeing myself and I shouldn't have anything, or is it me seeing a girl who does have something and I don't think it should be there on her? It's pretty confusing. I mean Iunno I just feel deta…

I'm sure this is out there and has been addressed somewhere, but I was wondering if anyone knew of a good site with material for friends who are interested and want to be helpful. I had a friend express an interest in something like this, which was really sweet of her.. but I realized I don't have a whole lot to pass along besides my "personal FAQ" I've been building. Most of the material I've found has been for the trans person themselves, or occasionally, coping spouses/SOs.

Hi all. I am a transman living in a small community. Ever since I came out..4 years ago...I have lived in isolation. My family has let me go...and friends have let me go. I am tired of living in isolation. I am tired of dealing with the discrimination I get in the workplace and with my neighbors. I could use some support amd contacts. And it seems like every support group I have talked to....no one else is dealing with this 'outcast...isolation' stuff. If anyone can relate I would appreciate hearing from you.

Has anyone had the gender marker changed on their driver's license in Arkansas? What type of documentation is required? Do you have to have surgery first? Is there an official policy? Any information on this topic would be really great. Thanks!

Do you think that you are truelly in need of hormones to change you into a woman or a man, does this concept control you in some sort of way good bad indifrent maybe...I am only courious as to why the thought of hormones can cure our ills they dont change us in a drastic way they wont mirakulously change us over night into the woman ( or man ) we know we are to be so what is it about them that makes our minds turn to them in such a fasion? I know that hormones can aid in the process, I know that they also help in some developmental aspects of the transition, but the why bothers me, why must I turn to them, or must I even turn to them at all. I know the answer to this q…

That's right, My wife gave birth to our second child on Tuesday 15th of January. A little girl weighing in at 7 pound 7 oz. Mother and baby are now home and doing well.

I'll bet that most of you have seen the movie "A Soldier's Girl". I just bought the DVD and this is the best love story I have ever seen, bar none. I could not keep from crying to save my life. The ending was so sad. If anyone hasn't seen this movie I highly reccomend it. Note: keep a box of kleenex handy. The next movie that I want to see is "Normal". Have any of you seen it?

Found this video on Youtube, meant to be one of these hypnotherapy things "Your Feminine Self" Rather entertaining, would help if you listened to it during your sleep.

So many heavy topics here lately. I wish I could contribute in some way but there's not much I can do besides add an online sympathy note. So... if you want to read about someone else's frivelous plans for a small distraction, read on... Myself and the neighbor lady are going out for a pedicure today to relax and decompress. At the very least, I'm going to get clear polish. There is the usual temptation to get some color too, along with the usual hesitation about possible negative attention. Afterwards -- cheescake! Then we might go shopping a bit as she tries to find something for her bf. Maybe we'll have time for a make-up lesson too? I'm going out in mostly male…

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/...ia-mobster.html

I wasn't going to post this because I've pretty much figured out the answer for myself, and I've also got a pretty decent guess at what the forum response will be. But I was egged on by a certain someone, and maybe people will find it interesting anyhow. This is a reformatted set of IMs so if it has funny pacing, that's why. I've been finding something interesting lately. I have several fronts on which I can progress transition-wise but they are sort of decisive in that they remove barriers to further transitioning .. rolling snowballs, sorta. Things like doing voice practice in person with friends, which would let me try going out, which would open up more possibilit…

I was going to search for a previous topic, but apparently all the words are too short So.. my apologies if a thread has already been started on the topic Anyway, has anyone read this book? I heard about it earlier, and finally got a copy today on a separate recommendation from a friend. It's been really interesting reading so far. The full title is: Self-Made Man: One Woman's Year Disguised as a Man, by Norah Vincent

I was at a transgender conference this weekend, and someone mentioned a sort of "puberty-blocker" that people are starting to use. Basically, if a child is diagnosed as TS at an early age, you can get some kind of implant that blocks puberty. Later when they grow up, they can decide whether to take it out and go through puberty, or start a different set of hormones. Has anyone else ever heard of this? -Lysander

when i was about 7 or 8 years old, i had already known for quite some time that i loved being a girl. i didnt know that it was transgenderism, and i didnt know that there was anyone else like me. but i knew that i loved dressing up, and i loved it when all the people who saw me would use female pronouns with me Without Asking(!) and all of that. at any rate, when i was about that age, i found this book of short stories. and one of these stories spoke to me like no other story ever had. it was about a child, who was raised androgynously...and hir adventures in childhood, and in life. now this story doesnt speak just to transgender people i think....the author probably did…

Hello, After years of hurt and pain, I have come out with my real feelings. It has been a long time for me. I guess it started when I was real little. My sisters used to dress me up. My Mom kept my hair long which was a plus. They would often dress me in their skirts and dresses and put my hair in pony tails with ribbons in them. I can remember that it felt weird to me, but I also felt good. I so after started dressing in my sisters clothes on my own. This continued on and off all through my school years and into college. I had a BF in HS and nobody knew about us. I would often dress for him and told him I would like for him to marry me someday. I always was very jealo…

Does anyone watch this show? What did everyone think for the season finale of season 5?

Everyone here always comes up with insightful topics and discussions here. You people share your life's ups and downs and offer people like me much needed insight. I feel that we have quite a community here and I am glad to be apart of it. PS I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday.

My therapist expressed the thought, when we were discussing Diane Kearny's "visit" to this forum a while back, that maybe part of the reason why MtFs seem to have such trouble with "the ladder" is that it's a holdover from their male socialization, that feeling of competitiveness and having to have "one up" on the next person. (Not that women never do this, but it seems much more common and overt with men.) Not ever having really swallowed that particular piece of socialization, I found myself agreeing with him, because even at times when I'm considered to be "on top" of a ladder (not this one but others), I find the things annoying and frustrating. It intercedes between…