Major celebrations today!

[DanielMacBride]

Hot on the heels of the fantastic victory by 2 West Australian transmen against the WA Attorney General and government, I just wanted to post here because I have had a big grin on my face all day - as of today, I am officially recognised as male by Medicare - next step will be my GRC so that the recognition of my gender for medical purposes will apply to everything else :D

:drink:

[Michelle.M]

Congratulations! I am so happy for you!

[DanielMacBride]

Thanks Michelle! :) I am absolutely ecstatic - I had to stop in at my doctor's surgery to pick up the letter for Medicare stating that I have been hormonally reassigned, lived in my chosen gender for more than 2 years and have had surgery for the purpose of gender reassignment, and I was so excited to get this letter that I was shaking all the way to the Medicare office lol! And when I saw the "M" on the screen in my details, I can't even begin to describe how that felt - suffice to say that I don't think I will be able to stop grinning for at least a week ;)

[Jorja]

Whooo Hooooo! Congratulations Daniel!!!!

[DanielMacBride]

Thanks Jorja :) Next step for me once I am fully healed from my recent hysto surgery, is to get all the necessary statutory declarations from the relevant therapists and medical practitioners to apply for my GRC, and organise my chest surgery - and then I'm finally going to officially be DONE with my transition :D I really feel like I'm in the home stretch now, it took me 4 years of fighting to get my hysto surgery because the West Australian system is so damned backward and transphobic! But since my hysto (one month ago today in fact!) things have really started moving along and falling into place and now there is really nothing standing in my way for getting a GRC and finally being able to just get on with the business of being me without having to worry about all that stuff any more :D

[Felix]

Congratulations Dan its taken such a long time but I'm so pleased for you :)

Felix :)

[DanielMacBride]

Thanks Felix, it certainly has been a long hard road, but I'm getting there :) Things seem to be moving along nicely in every other area of my life right now, too, I have a lot of good things happening :)

[Felix]

I'm glad to hear it Dan I always follow your story with interest :)

[7sisters]

Wow. Congratulations to you. Persistence pays. You never let go of your goals. That's an inspiring lesson. One never knows how close one is to achieving ones goals. Congrats.

[Leanne2]

Good for you Daniel! You mentioned that you just want to get on with your life. Do you have any long term plans for your employment or family life? What do you want to be; what do you want to do? Good Luck! Leanne

[DanielMacBride]

Thanks ladies :)

Leanne, I am currently on disability for a number of things (fibromyalgia, PTSD and several others) so at this point my goals are mostly health-related, like pain management so that I can get back to doing a lot of the things I was able to do before fibro. Employment and family wise, I'm at home with 2 of my boys all the time and when (not if) I get the fibro pain and stuff more under control, I hope to be able to work more than 2 hours a week and expand my small home-based business into something that might actually be able to contribute to supporting my family :) I have plans for where I want to be and what I want to be doing over the next couple of years, and I know exactly how to achieve what I want - and now I have plenty of motivation to get there because I love what I do and I have so much fun that I don't think of it as "work" :D

[Leanne2]

Daniel,
If you love what you do then you are a lucky man indeed! Leanne