The beginning....
It all started on the afternoon of January 19, 1985 in South Africa. Mum and Dad proudly presented to the world their first born, a brown eyed girl. Life was pretty interesting. I always had boy mates, always teasing the girls. I'd collect cars and rugby, cricket and tennis balls. I had the biggest cellection of marbles and rugby cards in our school. At the age of seven, Mum and Dad took me to join ballet. At this stage in my life, I knew i was different. How? I was unable to identify how exactly, I just knew it.
One day, we had the karate club demonstration at school, and needless to say, that was the end of my ballet career. At age 24, I still do karate. Anyways, soon after that, I started playing cricket at school and hockey. In 1995, we moved from Port Elizabeth to Ellisras, a small town in the northern province. Once again, I joined all the sporting clubs. And proudly being the only 'girl' on the cricket team! We spent three years there, and in 1998, we moved from South Africa to Saudi Arabia.
At the age of 13, not only did I begin to deal with my own hormonal issues, I also had to deal with a whole new country, language, and culture. It was tough, I won't lie, but I lived. We lived in Saudi for 6 years. I spent my entire teenage life in a very strict country. We would go to South Africa for our holidays and I remember the envy I had for the kids I saw. I think it was more the freedom they had to be themselves. It was also during this time in my life, I started to realise that my feelings towards the girls I knew weren't what was deemed normal. I liked them, liked them in ways guys liked them. Thus, the internal battle started.
At this stage, I knew I was gay. I knew i liked girls and because I was a "girl", I was gay. The internal battle went from "yes, you know you are gay" to "NO, you cannot be gay!". I remember a few nights where I argued with myself "Well, no, you aren't gay. How can you be gay if you're a guy and you like girls? WAIT! HOLD UP! you're a girl!". So at that stage, I knew...I was a guy in the wrong body!
Fast forwarding, I came out to my parents in 2004. It's been 5 years now. Our whole family moved to New Zealand in 2005, we've been here now for 4 years. Within the 4 years, I've managed to meet the woman of my dreams. We are currently engaged and to be married in 2011. Parents are slowly still getting use to the idea of me being a "butch lesbian". And as of this moment (September the 1st, 2009), I have not told them yet of my transition.
In New Zealand, in order to fully transition, you have to meet a few "requirements". The Ministry of Health has posted them on their website (link can be found on the Links page). As you guessed, I am only just starting it now. Thus, I have had no hormone treatments at all, and need to start my 2 year period of living as a male. Which, if you know me, I have really already. But yeah...
So for the next few years I will be logging my changes and experiences. And I thank you for showing an interest in my life.
One day, we had the karate club demonstration at school, and needless to say, that was the end of my ballet career. At age 24, I still do karate. Anyways, soon after that, I started playing cricket at school and hockey. In 1995, we moved from Port Elizabeth to Ellisras, a small town in the northern province. Once again, I joined all the sporting clubs. And proudly being the only 'girl' on the cricket team! We spent three years there, and in 1998, we moved from South Africa to Saudi Arabia.
At the age of 13, not only did I begin to deal with my own hormonal issues, I also had to deal with a whole new country, language, and culture. It was tough, I won't lie, but I lived. We lived in Saudi for 6 years. I spent my entire teenage life in a very strict country. We would go to South Africa for our holidays and I remember the envy I had for the kids I saw. I think it was more the freedom they had to be themselves. It was also during this time in my life, I started to realise that my feelings towards the girls I knew weren't what was deemed normal. I liked them, liked them in ways guys liked them. Thus, the internal battle started.
At this stage, I knew I was gay. I knew i liked girls and because I was a "girl", I was gay. The internal battle went from "yes, you know you are gay" to "NO, you cannot be gay!". I remember a few nights where I argued with myself "Well, no, you aren't gay. How can you be gay if you're a guy and you like girls? WAIT! HOLD UP! you're a girl!". So at that stage, I knew...I was a guy in the wrong body!
Fast forwarding, I came out to my parents in 2004. It's been 5 years now. Our whole family moved to New Zealand in 2005, we've been here now for 4 years. Within the 4 years, I've managed to meet the woman of my dreams. We are currently engaged and to be married in 2011. Parents are slowly still getting use to the idea of me being a "butch lesbian". And as of this moment (September the 1st, 2009), I have not told them yet of my transition.
In New Zealand, in order to fully transition, you have to meet a few "requirements". The Ministry of Health has posted them on their website (link can be found on the Links page). As you guessed, I am only just starting it now. Thus, I have had no hormone treatments at all, and need to start my 2 year period of living as a male. Which, if you know me, I have really already. But yeah...
So for the next few years I will be logging my changes and experiences. And I thank you for showing an interest in my life.
