This last year has been a crazy, scary, exciting, and emotional year. I am glad it is over, but feel it was all worthwhile and would not cut it out of my life.
Jenni and I came to the decision together, that I was going to commit to transitioning, in the early fall of 2016. The decision was not reached quickly or easily. We seriously considered what it would mean to us, our family, and our community. We considered the possible outcomes and consequences in terms of our careers, our friends, family members, and our overall welfare. We debated, deliberated, prayed, and self-reflected, for months. I even got my tarot cards read on the subject! Even then we started slow. I slowly changed my wardrobe to be a little more androgynous by wearing women’s jeans. I started filling in my eyebrows with powder. Nothing that couldn’t be undone. I was already shaving my legs at that point.
As time moved on I started making bigger changes. I started shaving my arms, I started wearing sports bras under my shirts. I knew I would like to start HRT eventually, but found some herbal supplements online and started taking those. There were some small effects: my nipples were more sensitive, there was some decrease in sexual drive, some mood swings. Nothing that anyone would notice outside either Jenni or I.
In January I found someone that does electrolysis close to home. Electrolysis is permanent hair removal where a small needle is inserted into the hair follicle, then an electric current is applied. Laser hair removal is great, but only works well when there is a high contrast between the hair color and skin pigment. So it works on dark, thick hairs if you have fair to medium skin tones. It is a relatively cost effective, and great option for when you want to shave less. However it will not get rid of those fine or light colored hairs. So if you just want to not worry about shaving your legs as often in the summer, laser is a great way to go. However for someone that is transitioning male-to-female, electrolysis for your face is a must. It is expensive, slow, and painful. Since it only kills one hair at a time, it takes years to clear out your entire face. I started doing it once a week, for an hour, in January 2017.
Everything was going really well, so in spring of 2017 I found a doctor that would prescribe HRT. I contacted the office and set up an appointment in May. The office also gave me a list of therapists and psychologists that would write letters of readiness. I called and set up an appointment with one of them. Solely because of the way schedules worked out I was able to meet with the doctor first. Everything went great. She gave me a once over, went over all the information about HRT (nothing I didn’t already know), and said that as soon as she got the letter, she would call in the hormones.
I got my letter and am now about to start my hormones!! I am super excited to start the next phase of my transition!!
