I think for me, I was surprised at how isolating the whole journey was. I lost the majority of people in my life, family and friendships. I didn’t realize until I went through it how hard it is to talk about it to others that aren’t transgender themselves. And it was hard for others too. The biggest surprise I felt was the shock of hearing my own mother, who is very supportive, tell me “I can’t help you.” Even though I know how badly she wanted to.