If I could transition all over again.

[Katesback]

Hi there everyone. I was recently asked this question. The girl that asked me was wanting to know if I would have changed anything if I could go back. I gave it some though and I told her that the one big thing I would have done differently was get FFS before SRS.

There is no debate that SRS is important for many TS girls. It does set you up for a whole new transition ect. ect. but lets face it the world does not see your private parts. The world DOES see your face and needless to say for many ts girls getting FFS is the most life changing thing of all. For many it opens the door for acceptance as NORMAL by the general public.


Thats my two cents contribution to the TS forum.

KAtie

[Melissa A.]

Well, yeah. Sorta. Bottom surgery is alot more personal. And while it is desired by most of us, myself included, what's between your legs doesn't necesarilly define you as a woman. I see it as the end, or at least near-end goal to a much more important process. That process is transition. Transition, whether it lasts a couple of years years or longer, is a life experience. One that isn't always fun, but can be, sometimes. It's when we learn how to be more who we really are, how to deal with the world, and let the world deal with us. Transition is a journey. SRS, for those who can afford it and are healthy enough to have it, is a completion for many, but not necessary to make one complete. If I have FFS at some point, I'd like that to be before SRS, as well. But I'm already out in the world as much as I'm gonna be without it, and I'd have to say my comfort level with who I am, and my relationship with the world, is such that SRS is more of a priority, financially, than some facial surgery. I'm pretty comfortable out there. Would I love to be more attractive? Sure. But not at the expense of delaying other goals.

Hugs,

Melissa:)

[Katesback]

You sound totally the same way I felt. As a matter of fact I was not even interested in FFS for a good while. But then I realized that there was some degree of solace in erasing any remaining masculine features. Needless to say I had the funds to get FFS and did it more as the finishing touch.

What I did learn was that it changed my life overnight in ways I would never have imagined. It REALLY opened the door to NORMAL. Even though I felt I had reached that point prior to FFS, FFS really did take me to new dimension.

[kellycan27]

I think that the only thing I would have done is to have started HRT in my early teens. As it is I started at 24. I don't feel the need for any kind of FFS, (well, maybe getting my nose fixed down the road.) The only thing holding up SRS is deciding where to have it done, here in the US or Thailand. Monies and documents are in place.

Yes Kate I do agree that if one can pull it off, doors open up in ways that one would never have imagined possible. It's like learning the "secret" handshake :heehee:

Kel

[GypsyKaren]

I had just enough money to either have FFS or SRS, and I knew that I'd never be able to get whichever one I passed on at a later time. For me it was a no brainer, I had the SRS because that's the one thing I had wanted and needed since hearing about it for the first time in 1970.

I do understand why you and others feel this way, and I certainly will never find any fault with those feelings, we all have to do what's best for us at the time. I wish I could afford it now but I can't and never will, I get by okay with how I look and I'm very happy with the choice I made and I'm very happy with myself, that's something that everyone deserves a shot at, in their own way.

Karen :g1:

[SuzanneBender]

Katie great thread. As someone starting down this road this discussion is really helpful for me.

I think being able to blend will be more important to me than full transision so I will lean towards FFS rather than GRS initially.

[Katesback]

I wrote the post based upon my own experiences having had all the surgeries. What is interesting is that a lot of the people that I work with and know were surprised that I was getting FFS. The common reply was "you dont need it". Indeed I was pretty lucky in the looks dept.

Why I got FFS was of the perspective that one it would increase my career outlook (I work for trans people and in my job I am out), two it would make me look younger, three it was the icing on the cake!

Moving forward to today I now know that even though I fit in fine, had the confidence and inner peace that most can only dream of, some people still saw me as at the very least "different". Now after FFS thats essentially non-existant.

Katie