Been there, still doing that. It's taken me more than forty years to get to the point where I am now, and I never imagined that I could actually do any of this.

Pain, I can well imagine the pain. I had such internal pain from the sheer desire to be the woman I am inside, I'm surprised my internal organs still function at all. It has probably contributed significantly to my Fibromyalgia, although I wouldn't say that it was the entire cause.

I've been lucky in that I haven't (yet) had rejection from anyone I have told, although so far that is a small number. I have a way to go before I can go out in public, but I am sufficiently encouraged by progress that I know that it is going to happen one day.

One day the pain will lessen, and then one day after that it will suddenly be gone, to be replaced by an amazing euphoria as you finally match the internals with the externals. All you must do is have infinite patience and learn to play the long game.

It's well worth it.

Penny