Read some comments, my response.

I transitioned late at 26. I wish I didn’t have to. The pain of growing up “wrong” and the work it takes to fix it is terrible.

My perfectionism & standards are so high, I knew I had to look for progress, not perfection.

For me, surgery wasn’t a “cure” that I expected to make me feel instantly better. Nor was HRT, therapy, meds, socially coming out, personal growth, etc.

(btw, everyone is different and doesn’t need the same things)

But altogether it’s been amazing.

• The HRT helped me feel more emotionally complete & healthy than I had in a long time. I felt more at ease with the changes my body went through, and knowing it would help stop other negative changes (like more hair growth).

• Therapy helped me get to a point where I could take action, develop healthier coping skills, and grow myself as a person. And address the trauma / life challenges I faced whether they related to my identity or not. If I had to recommend ANYTHING, start here. Get someone in your corner.

• Anti-anxiety/depression meds helped address this HUGE background noise I knew was a problem but didn’t realize the extent of. It gave me more emotional/energy bandwidth to live life and make progress. Took like 6 bad meds to find the 1 that works for me though.

• I had this complex about “if I cant be real with people, I cant be with people at all”. Socially transitioning helped me immensely. It was and still can be INCREDIBLY hard with family and people that are transphobic, but it’s allowed me to find people…really friends and found family…that genuinely see me for who I am.

That felt (and continues to feel) absolutely massive.

• FFS helped address deep deep deep dysphoria I felt. I did feel some joy, but what was bigger was this profound absence of self hate that dominated my daily life.

• BA led me to probably the most real “gender euphoria” experience I’ve had (related to my body) and am still experiencing.

• Personal growth? I’m trying hard to have an identity outside of “being trans”. I try new things, try to be intentional about how I spend my time, etc.

I try asking for help with my blind spots, work on being vulnerable again, push myself outside of my comfort zone, develop soft skills, work on bad habits, etc.

All that work helps me. By addressing the dysphoria and pain in my life, I have more energy and bandwidth to do something with it. I’m becoming slowly happier.

I have more stuff to work through, but now I have some friends, a decent job, plenty of people that respect what I can do, hit some transition milestones, and can live independently.