How long did it take?

[Elizabeth 66]

How long did it take for you to refer to yourself in the feminine? i was just wondering, at the moment i think of myself as a man with female desires, i think because there is only me and the ladies on here that know how i feel.

I have just been pondering today how long it would take till i regarded myself more of a woman than a man, and yes i know it is entirely up to me, but i thought that some thoughts from others would maybe give me some idea what to expect.

What are your thoughts ladies? :daydreaming:

[Myojine]

it didnt take long after my realization that i shouldnt hide my female self to being refering to my self as what i truely was, a girl. online i refer to myself solely as female, and often times in daily life its a little confusing.
i cant tell you how many forms i have messed up checking "female" under sex. and had to get a new form.
im just waiting to realy start transitioning so OTHER PEOPLE will recognise me as female.

[Daniela76]

I accepted my TS status in December & came out at work in January.
It was sometime in February when I started referring to myself as female.
I've been trying to get my coworkers to refer to me in gender neutral pronouns or preferable feminine pronouns. It's going okay so far. The gender neutral is winning so far though. I can understand their difficulty with it though. And they all call me Dani now.

I haven't started with my family or other friends yet though.

I do refer to & think of myself as female though. If only there weren't those things in my pants that keep reminding me I'm not yet though. And the stupid hair on my face & other areas I don't want.

[Jennifer in CO]

"How long did it take for you to refer to yourself in the feminine? i was just wondering, at the moment i think of myself as a man with female desires, i think because there is only me and the ladies on here that know how i feel."

Sarah,
I can honestly say I don't know when (ok..don't remember is maybe better). Its kinda like falling in love. You sometimes cant say exactly when you knew, but at that moment, you knew. What I DO remember was this. When everyone around me was using female pronouns when talking to me or about me, I knew I was accepted as one and could, at that point, fully accept myself as one. I considered myself female even tho I had "extra packaging". It wasn't the body parts doing the deciding, it was the brain. I feel I moved into a point that I looked like a female, acted like a female, so therefore I was female. After being full time for a year, there was virtually no difference in presentation between me and any other girl. At work by that time, there were as many people who knew me only as Jennifer as there were who knew me before I transitioned. That also made it easier to be "me".

When you know when...at that moment you'll be giddy as a school girl...

Jenn

[garou]

I went to a doctor in about September for a referral to a gender psych. The doctor I went to was pretty convinced that I had GID and referred me to an endocrinologist straight away. About January I went to the endo for the first time, got a blood test and 2 weeks after about the 14th of February this year I started hormones. Yay ^_^

[CharleneT]

from about when I started to understand what gender was, about age 5 I think.

[pamela_a]

Once I finally accepted myself for who I am it was easy. Now living full time as the woman I am it's natural

[DizzyRose]

I started mentally referring to myself as a female from a very young age. I actually don't even remember *ever* thinking of myself as a male, it always made me feel uncomfortable and unhappy. Some of my earliest memories are actually of wishing people would call me a girl (which some strangers did..) It's different for everyone, and I hope you are able to figure out what you truly are, I know how comforting it was for me to be referred as I felt for the first time.

[jenna_woods]

Once I finally accepted myself for who I am it was easy,I am jenna 80% of the time and loveing it.

[beccy]

i always have thought of myself as female though been forced to live as "him" as i knew family wouldnt aprove. even in my dreams im always female again sory there no def age but at the age of 2 i nearly did the surgeons jod for him will a pair os scissors shamw i didnt but hey

[Midnight Skye]

For me it was a little bit more distinct and caught on tape so to speak. I didn't accept being transgendered until I was 24-25. At that point I started practicing my voice and recording various thoughts on my telephone (real smart... lol). After about 8 months of accepting myself I dished back through the recordings and realized that I was referring to myself as female now and that my perception of a male me was gone.

[Rianna Humble]

On some ways it was a long time, and in others not so long. I finally gave up fighting my true identity about last summer. I came out at work as TG in January, although I am in a sort of limbo where I can only be me half the time at work until I become official and towards the end of January found myself telling a GG "I'm old enough to be your mum". Management still see me as a bloke for now, but they accept my feminine side.

The other day, I was getting ready to go out in drab :sad: but was trying to decide which watch I should wear, I finally said (out loud) "Well if I'm going to pretend to be him, I might as well put on his watch". To me, now, Rianna is the only true reality, being "him" is cross-dressing and make-believe.

[prene]

Yes for me it is.
I started just wanting to wear my mothers, ans sisters clothes when I was little.
. . .

I have been moving closer and closer to being/acting/dressing feminine.

Who knows where I will end up?

[Katari]

I am the same as you Elizabeth. I still refer to myself as a guy with female tendensies. I have, however; caught myself after the fact calling myself "girl", or other feminin titles and when that happens, I just smile and wonder what others around me are thinking

Mostly in girl mode
Katari

[Teri Jean]

When I started to transition at work it was easier but it has been the students that are in women's sports that really did it for me. Their acceptance has been huge. Also a couple of my co-workers, who are female, have included me as one of the gals to the point of shopping for jewelry and makeup. It takes time but for me the more that they accept me the more comfortable I have become and making my confidence as a woman a reality.

Teri

[Hope]

You know I don't think about it a lot - but it has really been sneaking up on me. I think not being able to be out in every realm of my life has really been holding me back (in a lot of ways) but I have "caught" myself doing this several times recently. It isn't like I can point to a bright line experience where it started, or that I have been trying to do it... it is just something that has been occurring organically. No doubt my wife's use of female pronouns has had an effect.

[noeleena]

Hi.

Not knowing there was a difference & yet accepting your self for who you were. age 10 looking at girls & thought im not quite like them . it was thier hair face, clothes shoes. & they had breasts. & I saw things about my self that were a bit different .

After age 15 i was thinking or my thinking was different . along the lines of both ,male yet not quite right & female hard to put in to words. really as i got older i was understanding along the lines of female & in some ways how i did things & knew i was not relating to males . & really just accepted who i was .

when i was 50 . it all changed i knew with out any doughts i was a woman yet a part of my self was male, yet still not a big issue, alltho i knew from then on my life was going to be lived as a woman . & that was 12 years ago & im 62 well allmost 63 coming this aug .
i did not struggle with who i was or am . i just knew that being different was just me ,
The timing was the right time no way would it have worked any sooner. every thing has been so right . & no regrets at all, im just so happy being myself & as a woman has been the best detail in my life. just so neat.

...noeleena...

[Empress Lainie]

I always knew I was different from other boys and men and never enjoyed any male company, chose female playmates in elementary school (thank goodness the teachers either didn't know or didn't care, the girls accepted me as just as one of them even though they all knew I was a boy (but not one of the horrible ones).

Through my life to age 72, I still knew I liked female company and nearly never had any male company. When I bowled in League it was a mixed league. I would never get in a men's league.

I never liked being called Mister, and for the 20yrs I taught music I always had my students call me by my first name, even the 5 year olds. They really thought it was great to call an adult by the first name. (It was really my second but that was all I ever used.)

So when that great shining ray of light hit me on July 2, 2007, I NEVER thought of myself as a male again, and began living as the woman I am the next day. That was also at my first tg group I was called SHE and it felt SO RIGHT.

For those of you who haven't gone to living full time as the person you really are, you are in for a wonderful treat; the complete happiness that infuses your whole being, and radiates outwardly.

I sometimes feel like a movie star the way everyone treats me now. (Then I saw yesterday my autograph was being auctioned on Ebay - someone with the same name, there are three, all singers and actresses, and strangely enough, her signature looks almost exactly like mine.

[Stephanie Anne]

Today. I just could not take my male side any longer and just said enough is enough. I know am starting to think of myself as she,her,maam,etc,et al.

Been feeling really really frumpy and actually cried today when my 4th in a week nail chipped and broke (I just can't win, I use my hands too much to have long nails :Angry3:).

Funny it feel like such a relief to think of oneself as a woman, short fingernails and all.

I still have no clue what I am doing as I have never been a woman before :lol: