Personally I'd say 'you do you' and fuck anybody else who tries to bring you down over it. Which is not the same thing as people who are well-meaning (whether actually informed or not) who try to give you 'advice'. You just gotta take that kind of stuff as it comes, I think. Let it roll off your back if you don't like it. Just smile and keep on chuggin'. That's my philosophy.

My first thought on reading this is that you actually initially come across as "accepting" of your personal choice of direction and action. There are many that talk about the "suicidal ideology" for transgenders. Your body, your choice is my opinion on transitional transgender. However, It does bother me that I am to acknowledge the fact that you wish to believe that you are female in mind and wish to make your body match your thoughts. I am supposed to believe the lie that you were not born male, and that I am to address you as a female. Compelled to do so by law. I will not criticize your choices, but the long term impact may prove more harmful than good, and I mean the surgical alterations being possible to be life threatening over time.. One of the biggest problems that I see for men changing to women is that more likely than not, the masculine traits will not be lost. You will look like a man dressing as a woman. Not as a woman that is homely. There is only a small margin of men that transition that have the femininity to pull it off and appear to be female with some level of belief. Generally, of the tranny's I have seen, they just look "odd" and because they look "odd" they draw attraction to themselves that is often that of incredulity or astonishment or dislike. Further I worry about your ability to date or find a partner, IMO hetero males will not accept a trans as a female partner as it is in opposition to their desires, and if you are homosexual you may find a homosexual partner but then isnt it a waste to have gone through the transition? Then I think that if you like women, are you a lesbian but are you a true lesbian as you were male that is now female and it starts the whole debate again. At the base of it, I just wonder if it is truly worth all the pain, the changes, the costs, the emotional impact, possible depression, lifelong medications?, Do you see yourself as being truly happy through all this?.. I only ask to understand better from a first person point of view.. Even Bruce Jenner has now verbalized that he may have made a mistake becoming Kaitlyn.

Hi. I have zero experience with anyone transitioning at all, so I won't try to be an armchair quarterback about this important issue you are facing. I do want to commend you for not being of the mind to promote this to minors, I respect that very much. I have been very concerned, as a parent, that children are being misled, misinformed and even coerced to believe they are trans, when they're really not, and to seek life-changing treatments that can wreck their health and that they are not mature or wise enough to make. That being said, if you were my personal friend, I would ask you - Are you prepared for the very real dangers of surgery and lifelong hormonal treatments? Some people are more sensitive to side effects than others, but the danger, especially long-term to your health is very real. Also, in the relationship realm, it is difficult to find a good partner, these days for everyone, but even more so for the trans community, per several articles I've read. Anyway, your post caught my attention, both it's tone and humility? (I think is the vibe, I got). I wish you well and pray you find peace.

Happiness is an elusive butterfly, as the song goes. We all seek approval for our choices in life and find to our surprise that many times approval is withheld or that disapproval is given instead. That is a basic fact of life we we learn (or should learn) from life. You have made a choice and I expect that you will continue with the choice in you life. I will caution you that it is not the choice that will bring you happiness but how you live that choice. Become that gender you wish by being that gender, that in itself will bring you a measure of happiness. I wish you well.