My Male to Female Transition - Introduction

Hi. My Name is Andi and I'm a male-to-female (MtF) transgender from Australia. When I made the decision to take a more serious approach to living a transgender life I started calling myself Harmony but that didn't get a great reception from certain parties so I decided to use a version of the name my parents gave me when I was born, which was Andrew, hence Andi. 

Anyway, after reading through the blog of a good friend (which is really funny) and being encouraged to document my transition by another (a great, amazing, beautiful, loving person that I will talk more about in the future) I decided to give blogging a go. 

A quick note to start with though. I am really conscious of starting off with a lengthy, boring background because some of my psychologist friends have told me that they find it hard to stay awake when their patients tell them long and detailed context setting stories. However, I think it's important to at least set the scene with a few details. So, here goes, my very first blog entry. How exciting!

To start with, as you can tell from my pic, I am no spring chicken. In fact, I'm 47. I was born in Sydney, Australia and spent the first 14 years of my life living in, what was then, the working class suburb of Concord. I was the first boy born in my family but I have 5 older sisters and I also have a younger brother. 

I have a very lovely set of memories from this part of my life and, even though I don't live there any more, Sydney has a special place in my heart. My dad is 4th generation Australian and is descended from Irish Catholics who came to Australia in about 1854. My mum was born here but her Mum was from Aberdeen in Scotland. There are a few stories about where my maternal grandfather came from but the one I like most is that he was the illegitimate son of a Jamaican sailor and a woman from somewhere in England. 

I have two children from a marriage that ended some time ago and am currently single. I work for the Australian Government and recently graduated with a Masters degree which I attempted mainly to right the wrongs of taking advantage of a free university education in the 80s but also to prove to myself that I am not as dumb as a box of hammers.  

From the age of about 10 I started to realise that there was something different about me but found it difficult to define what that difference was in a way that made sense to my young mind. As is what I think is the case with many people of my gender, I could only arrive at the conclusion that something was terribly wrong with me - a conclusion that my Catholic surroundings no doubt helped to establish. Without travelling down the victim rabbit hole let me just say that I am, right now and more than ever in my life, determined to live an authentic life that is true to who I am. 

Picture: My younger brother Brendan and I in Sydney sometime in the 70s. 

So, to the present...or at least the not too distant past. In January of this year (2013) I ended a relationship with someone whom I loved very much but who wanted children. I knew that I had to pursue my authentic self so children for me is out of the question. I loved that girl very much and I think of her every day. After making that decision everything else about starting my transition journey seemed easy. As such, I started engaging with the trans community in Canberra as well as investigating hormone replacement therapy (HRT) . As of the date of this entry I have almost finished my second month on HRT which involves a daily does of estrogen (4 mg) and testosterone blockers(200 mg). 

Anyway, this blog is about following my journey so I hope to help anyone who reads it to get an insight into what being transgender means. Taking such a course of action might help me better understand being transgender too.

To finish though, I want to touch on a lighter note. I have some amazing friends, none more so than my amazing friend whom I will call in this blog K Girl. Just two night ago K Girl helped me arrange a coming out party at which a close circle of friends came along to witness me as Andi for the first time. We had a great night - amazing really - that involved great food, great cocktails, fantastic company, dancing and a general orginess of niceness. The night ended as K Girl, my mate Kendall and I wandered home under a rising sun after an extended period of clubbing. I was elated. I had been accepted and loved as Andi. Here's a pic of me doing the obligatory selfie in the bathroom of the club....

and another one of me smiling my head off with the happiness of it all...

I'm gonna end this first post now but next time I am going to talk very seriously about transgender fashion so, if you are interested in tapping into the future of this burgeoning niche, stay tuned.

Lots of love

Andi