Beginning Stages of Transition is Your Second Puberty

Embracing the Life Cycle of the Female to Male Transgender

When we first learn that our brains are programmed differently than our bodies were formed and accept that we can integrate them, we are at the first stages of transition. Transitioning from one gender to the other or anywhere in between takes the courage of a warrior. It is not for the insecure, the timid or the shy. Through these stages you will need to be consistent in your contributions to your own development. Take an assessment, prepare a solid plan and evaluate & tweak it often. These are the most important changes you will ever make. Factor into your plan everything from surgeries, to relocation and changes in employment. Even more important than a business plan, is your transitional plan. Educate yourself on transgenderism, anatomy and the behavioral sciences. Learn so much about your life that you can teach your own physician how to treat you when it comes to your hormonal medicinal needs. Understand that unless you plan on moving away and never seeing a single soul from your prior gender, you will need to become the greatest educator that you know. Because if you stay, you will need to teach them to transition right along with you. Their transition is in the form of shifting their view of you as a female to that of a male.

In mentoring men and women who are beginning or considering transition, I often see impatience in their writings and hear fear in their voices. One of my young bucks I remind often that no matter his chronological age, emotionally and physically as a male he is but a boy. That in time he will develop the strong character he will need to carry him throughout his life. At 1, 3, 5 years in transition: most often the transman is still developing physically and emotionally. Only time and experience will ripen and make him a grown man.