FINALLY, I am Paula!

[I Am Paula]

After an interminable wait, the government of Ontario gave me my new name, and birth certificate!
I am now, and forever hereafter Paula Maria.
Tomorrow morning starts the process of new ID. My gender change was official last month, and I have been gathering my forms, and paperwork for this day.
I start with important stuff like my license, car registrations, social insurance number etc. then...count em...65 places to go, like the bank, insurance company, the list is almost endless. I plan on just taking off every morning, and hitting two or three. And, of course, they all want to see originals, so I can't just sit at a fax machine.
Today, slowly the reality of this has been sinking in. The old me is really gone. Paula, woman, exists and is recognized as existing. Cool! My personal sense of identity has been developing, and now no one can debate my physical identity. :)

[PretzelGirl]

Woo-Hoo! Congrats! And may you escape writer's cramp in your upcoming efforts. :D <- I assume your smile puts this one to shame.

[Janelle_C]

I'm so happy for you!!!

[Sue Too]

Oh Paula, I am so thrilled for you. Your dream has finally come true. I have some idea of the job you have ahead of you. I'm planning on doing my name change later this summer and I have been building a list of the places I need to contact. It goes on and on.

No need to pinch yourself. It's real, girl!

Susan in Phoenix (It's a dry heat)

[Christina Sevilla]

Congrats! I am so happy for you!

[Persephone]

:cheer: :cheer: :cheer:

Go Paula!

Hugs,
Persephone.

[Di]

Paula Maria :^5::twirl::thumbup::w00t::yippee::yahoo: Very happy for you!!!!

[Angela Campbell]

It is a lot of work, and it seems like it will never get completely done. But it is gratifying isn't it?

[kimdl93]

Congratulations. Sixty five different places! Wow, you need identity consolidation!

[arbon]

Very very happy for you Paula!! :)

[Kaitlyn Michele]

I know that this is a really big deal and you should be proud that you have reached this point in your life!!

Kudos to you!!

[Jorja]

Congratulations Paula!:cheer::cheer::cheer: And now for the fun part, notifying all the places to change their records.

[Nigella]

Welcome to the world Paula :hugs:

[gonegirl]

I'm really happy for you Paula. It's a big deal to be recognized as you :-)
Congratulations!

[becky77]

Well done Paula, good for you. :)

[Rianna Humble]

Congratulations on this [-]millstone[/-] milestone

When is the :Party: ?

[Suzanne F]

So happy for you!
Suzanne

[Michelle789]

I'm so happy for you Paula!!!

[I Am Paula]

This will be the last post on the subject, to keep from boring you, but I had to share my experience today.
I expected the worst when I left the house today. I got to first, the federal office, Service Canada, to change my social insurance card (like social security.) I had my brand new birth certificate, and my name change ready. The very polite lady typed for a moment or two, asked a few questions, then disappeared. She returned with my new card, wished me a nice day, and I was done there. Elapsed time? About six minutes.
Next stop, Service Ontario, the provincial branch. I took a number, and was called immediately. The girl at the counter admitted she had never changed sex, and name on anything, much less ALL my I.D. I felt a little disheartened, and prepared for a long ordeal. She attacked it like a pro. Apperantly, the steps are laid out on the monitor in front of them. I came very well prepared, with forms, letters from my Doctor, and copies each in thier own file folder for each item. Take photos, scan signatures, fill out forms, this little dynamo dug into a mountain of paperwork. About 30 minutes later she handed me my new drivers licence, government health card, and four vehicle ownerships. All with my new name, and correct sex!
I went into this expecting negativity, ineptitude, runaround, or at least one 'you can't do that here' or 'you're missing XXX document'. Nada. Utmost professionalism all the way.
Canada is a great place to transition. From day one, meeting Doctors, and therapists, to name, and gender change, to the great people who processed all my paperwork, and gave me my new I.D. Everyone has been top notch.
Kudos Canada for making transgender issues important, and help accessable!

[Angela Campbell]

That is similar to what went down with me here. Quick and easy. But I have a friend who had quite a different story in West Virginia.

She has a legal name change through the court. She changed her name and gender with Social Security. She has the Dr Letters and all.

When she went into the DMV they became louder than usual with her. They passed her from one person to another. They finally told her that for the picture she must remove the wig and all makeup and jewelry. Where she filled out a form she put an F on the gender line, the person behind the counter crossed it out and placed an M.

It is all up to the Lawyers now.

[I Am Paula]

I was chatting with her yesterday. What WV is doing to her is barbaric. It's almost like they are not only not cooperating, but trying to block her transition.

[Angela Campbell]

They are saying "we don't want people like you here"

[StephanieC]

Wow. Truly a happy time!!

[Cheryl123]

I'm sorry your friend had such a difficult time Angela. Having worked in the DMV over here, I was curious about their procedures. The stuff about being forced to remove her wig, jewelry and remove her make-up is way over the line. And this is grounds for a law suit. You can't single out an individual for special treatment. You can no more require a trans woman to do these things than they could a cis-woman. And DMVs must have written regulations regarding their procedures for license photos. Regarding change of gender marker in W. Va. they have conflicting procedures on the internet, so it's hard tell which one is in effect.

On the one hand they has a form which a doctor fills out stating that in the doctor's professional opinion the person is female (or male as the case may be). The doctor must have a practice involved in the treatment of gender disorder. The form is then sent to a medical review board, which essentially makes sure that the doctor in question is legit. Before anyone trashes W. Virginia too much, this is a very liberal policy. Many states still require surgery before they will change the gender marker. On the other hand a state website states that the DMV will only change gender marker upon the presentation of a court order. I suspect this might be the old procedure, but I don't know.

The important lesson here is that before you go to a DMV or any government agency make sure you know exactly what the policy is. It's not secret. It must be public information. Having changed name and gender with the Social Security will not help you because these are secondary documents. Bringing a letter from a doctor will usually be rejected because the doctor must sign a standard form. This sounds very bureaucratic but it's important that all name and gender marker changes are done in the exact same way. When variations are allowed you have the possibility of fraud.

In all government offices you have very accommodating workers and also people who are real jerks and abuse their power. It's important to file a complaint simply because you want to go on record about your mistreatment. But again it's important to know the exact procedures a DMV uses to change name and gender marker. Knowing this can save you a lot of trouble.

[Angela Campbell]

In Florida it is easy. Change gender and name at SS then the next day go to dmv with letter from a medical Dr and the court order for name change. Pay 50.00 and get your picture taken.

[I Am Paula]

I didn't even need to pay anything. In no time at all I got everything I came in for.