My mom pulled me aside today and talked to me about SRS.

[giuseppina]

Hello Loretta

Your post has me concerned that your family is (subtly) trying to push the issues of SRS. If I am mistaken, please accept my apologies.

If you are a male who likes to dress as a woman but want to remain male, hormones and SRS are not for you. Their effects are irreversible.

If, on the other hand, you have reason to believe you are a woman, then, and only then, should they be considered.

Your post at 1:21 today quotes Joanna Marie. She is exactly right.

At one time, I thought I wanted to be female. It was escapism from other problems in my life. Gender transition would have been a disaster.

A gender therapist will help you make that decision. It is your decision and yours alone.

[Veronica Lacey]

Perhaps your confusion simply equates to you needing to enjoy your dressing for what it is as a man. If you really wanted to be a woman then I believe you would not be wondering if you should or shouldn't and be more pro-active with this one.

Just a thought

[Rianna Humble]

We talked for a while, and eventually, the topic of vaginoplasty came up.

She looked at me, and said "If you want to get a sex-change, you'll need to start taking hormones. If you want, we'll talk to an endocrinologist about it."
My Aunt has said the same thing to me.

I think it's great that both your mum and your aunt are so open with you, but from the things you have written before, it seems to me that they are adding two and two and getting twenty two. This is probably down to a lack of knowledge, and you can work with them to help them understand that cross-dressing is not the same as gender dysphoria.

I'm not entirely sure if I want it or not. When I dress, it feels right. Like, REALLY right.
It's exhilarating.
But I'm not too sure if I want to go through the process of living as a woman for the rest of my life.

I think that the others who have suggested therapy are right, a qualified therapist with experience of working with transgender people will be able to help you to see clearly exactly who you are and where dressing fits into your life.

One of the things that you will need to help your mum and your aunt to understand is that transgender does not necessarily mean transsexual.

I would also like to echo the advice that if you are not sure you want to live as a woman for the rest of your life, then don't rush into anything.

[docrobbysherry]

U get SRS when u r ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN u want to live the REST OF YOUR LIFE AS A WOMAN!

And, you'll need PROFESSIONAL HELP to understand whether u want to travel that long, irreversable road or not!

When I started dressing rite out of the blue, I constantly fantasized about having real breasts and even a vagina! I tried various ways to increase my breast size to prep for augmentation surgery! They didn't work.

Then, after awhile, my desire for permanent body changes waned. And, finally disappeared! Now, I'm quite happy APPEARING to be female!