“‘You’ll NEVER look like a girl or have a feminine voice.’ She didn’t realize how much of an impact it would have on me.”
‘You need to be the MAN of the house.’ I realized my life was no longer my own.’: Transgender woman finds self love, ‘I’m at peace with who I’ve become’
‘Walls were painted blue, gendered gifts purchased, and everyone in the delivery room was shocked when I entered the world with a vagina.’: Intersex individual proud after ‘living in secrecy for 27 years’
“Before I turned one year old, I was forcibly sterilized. Or, in simpler terms, castrated.”
I Was Given Up For Adoption For Being Intersex—Here’s My Story
“At night I would pray to God, ‘Please make me a normal girl in my next life.’ All I could see ahead of me was conversion therapy. Now, I’m finally in a safe place where I am loved unconditionally for myself.”
‘Please give me a miracle. Turn me into a girl overnight.’ I kept it a secret. I was on a train headed for a dead end.’: Transgender teen embraces identity after life-long battle, ‘I am finally me’
“My family began deteriorating. My parents separated. My mom went from a healthy, loving parent to an alcoholic who couldn’t care for herself. She disappeared, temporarily, and then forever. I accepted I would have to continue living in fear and shame.”
‘Will anyone love me after I transition?’ I knew all along who I was, I just didn’t know where I belonged in the world.’: Queer, non-binary, trans person comes to terms with identity, urges ‘you’re never alone’
“During the first appointment to assess my eligibility for hormones…I lied. A lot. I told elaborate tales about how I had ‘always dreamed of being a man.’ I worried I was a poor representation of the trans community. No one would suggest a woman who had a double mastectomy is no longer a woman because she lacks breasts.”
‘Just give her time. She’ll come around.’ My mom has yet to use my correct pronouns.’: Trans man finds courage to live his truth, ‘Transitioning was the biggest act of self-love’
“Everyone kept telling me I was a girl. When my mom would take me clothes shopping, I found myself cutting looks to the male section, wishing I could cross aisles and pick something I’d feel confident in. I struggled so much with trying to feel ‘pretty.’ Now, I miss being able to pick up the phone and just say ‘hi’ to my mom. Years pass, with little to no communication. I’ll always be her ‘daughter.’ No amount of hormones or surgeries will ever change that.”
‘At 11, I had one foot on Earth, one in Heaven. While other girls complained of their periods, I longed for one. My body was a ticking time-bomb.’ Youngest female to ‘undergo hysterectomy’ embarks on emotional adoption journey
“In my 20s, I watched all my friends marry and have babies. I saw their lives unfolding while mine was stuck. I felt like guys could somehow sense my ‘barrenness’. Like somehow other girls gave off some mysterious appeal I couldn’t. I knew infertility would one day rear its ugly head. I was an old soul trapped in a young body.”
