Transitioning Later in Life

Before we get started on this Cyrsti's Condo post, let me take a second to send my condolences to the victims, families and friends of those affected by the Las Vegas shooting attack by yet another white home grown terrorist. So sad...and tragic...

Oldest known picture!

Joanna sent in a comment on those of us who have/or are thinking of gender transitioning from Mtf later in life. I paraphrase, but she said maybe it is easier.

Before you attack me, I know completing a transgender transition is  never easy, and so many of us wish we had done it earlier in life.

Plus, with each successive year, testosterone ravages our male bodies even more. However, the binary genders tend to merge back towards each other as testosterone decreases naturally in the male. Facial features especially have a tendency to soften over time.

So I don't know. I suppose it's a transition game of opportunity. Or, who can make the best of a bad situation they are in. No matter where you fall in the age spectrum losing a family is a very real possibility. The older you are though, the more entrenched you become with family and very important needed material things like housing and work.

Finally, let's not forget the influence from the overall world around us. I know in my case, for a fact, kids these days pay me almost no attention. And of course, the internet has turned out to be the great equalizer as far as disseminating knowledge/information to the transgender, LGBT, community has gone.

No one (obviously) can really say if transitioning is better - or worse. It depends upon each individual and the situation they are in. So often in our trans tribe, we are so close yet so far apart!
 

We got Trans Female Mail

Thanks to the responses we received here in Cyrsti's Condo concerning recent posts about coming out full time as a transgender woman later in life! The first from Connie as she "passed" along a remembrance of going out driving while cross dressed as a girl late at night when she was quite young:

Early picture when I first started growing my hair out.

1. "I should have added that I'd given up the auto transmission to "drive a stick" at the age of seventeen. After so many years of shifting gears back and forth, though, I finally had to leave it in high gear. Whether I ever got myself into passing gear or not is another question. :-)"
2. And from Marcia:
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4. 
   Marcia HamiltonSeptember 30, 2017 at 3:12 PM

   "That's where I am-now or never. 14 months of HRT and on track to be full-time by coming out day next October. I have to get through my divorce and somehow figure out how to preserve my law practice in the meantime. :) Onward!"

Onward indeed! Good karma Marcia, we know it is difficult but all so worth it!

And last (but hopefully not least :), Paula:

Paula GoodwinSeptember 30, 2017 at 5:27 AM

"As with most of us I can't remember a time when my gender wasn't in question, I think I started my transition when I first realized that I was going to be a man and wouldn't just wake up one morning as a girl, or change simply by an act of will. I certainly remember around the age of eleven doing my paper round in a gym slip smuggled into my paper sack and then changing as soon as I found a safe spot.

Strangely looking back I am glad that I did not go full time till I was in my 50s as I have had so many wonderful experiences that simply were not available to women my age."

Well put as always Paula!

Thanks to all you ladies (and Connie).

Mtf Transitioning - With an Automatic Trans

From Connie in reply to yesterdays Cyrsti's Condo LGBT blog post:

"The internet has been of value for more than just the information. It was in a forum setting that we met online, and (at least on my end), the sharing of thoughts and ideas was of great help toward our individual transitions. You have continued this through this blog - and I can't help but to chime in, just as before. 

I started all of my scheming and worrying about the age of eleven. I knew that I could not be a girl, but I imagined that I could move away to a place nobody knew me when I turned eighteen, and simply live my life as a young woman. I so wanted to grow up to be a woman, and I even began sneaking my mom's car out in the middle of the night just to drive around as though I were.

I've told this story before, but my mom's reaction was actually priceless when she'd figured out that I'd driven the car one night. Because I was wearing her clothes and one of her wigs, and the fact that we looked an awful lot alike, she was only upset because she was afraid someone might have thought she were out at 3:00 AM! It was as if a thirteen-year-old driving was not a problem at all. I call that my "automatic transition with an automatic transmission." :-) It didn't end up as easy as that sounds, though. Like you, "full time" for me began after the age of 60."

Interestingly, several of us talked about the "whys and hows" of transgender transitioning after the age of 60 during my last transgender - crossdresser support group meeting. Most came to the conclusion it was a now or never lifetime opportunity for them. 

Thanks Connie!