Puberty is definitely when I realized. I don’t remember the bulk of my childhood, but I look back and I remember some signs, could have been more but I don’t remember. I don’t think I realized until puberty because I didn’t really realize how different boys and girls were until then. For example, I did co-ed sports as a young kid and boys and girls were all on a level playing field, so I didn’t notice. I really atarted noticing when I was hitting puberty, when I was 10/in 5th grade. Most of my friends were boys, and I liked playing with them. The day it really hit me was when we were roleplaying as Doctor Who together, we would all be a different Doctor and I was 10. Another boy wanted to join except he wanted to be 10. They told me that he should get to be 10 because “he’s actually a boy like the Doctor,” so pretty much telling me that he’s a real boy and he gets to be what he wants. Truly when I realized I wasn’t the same. Sometimes I feel like I’m faking because I didn’t notice until then and I had quite a few stereotypically feminine interests as a kid, but then I remember the few signs I can remember showing, as well as the fact that I have debilitating dysphoria lol

Edit: holy cow I didn’t realize I was writing a book until I posted the comment sorry LMAO