My Book/ Contents.

Five Years of a Life Changing Experience.

Thank you for buying this book. I know it will be a valuable source of information to you, whether you are not yet out of the closet, or are at the beginning to start your journey. If you are an alley, or just like to know what it is to be over 50 and transitioning into womanhood, than this book might be interesting for you as well. Either way you get to know of what it is to feel like, and experience, part of the journey.

This book will give you information in what to expect when you start your transition from male to female later in life, like I did in my adult life at age 51, at which time I was looking for lots of information myself.

This book is both a written story about my life as a person, and as an informative guide into transitioning for those who are at their beginning of their journey.

I explain my research, experience and results with the great detail I collected, over the course of five years, while transitioning. Although every person is unique and results will be different to each one of us, by reading this book you will follow my social, medical and legal steps, transitioning from male to female.

As I was looking for everything I could find about transitioning, I noticed that most books, websites, TV documentaries and YouTube videos are more or less related to the younger generation of us transgender woman. Therefore I decided writing my story to share with you, the transgender woman, who starts her journey after 50. If you are about to start your own transition than hold on tight, it’s going to be a bumpy ride, but one with great results, as long as you are realistic and don’t expect to be the next Victoria Secret Angel model.

I am not educated in the medical field and all my statements, in regards to medical issues, are pure based on my own experience and the information I received from my medical team. This book is not going to mention things that could possibly hurt you like medication dosage and where to get medications without the required prescriptions. The same is true for legal formalities, I am not educated in law either.

One question I hear often is when it is the best time to start transitioning and where to start, what to do first?

This is a question that only you can answer for yourself. By reading this book I know you will have a better understanding of the transition process and will be able to answer this and other questions, and make your own educated decision. However, my advice, start with facial hair removal now, as soon as you can, as soon as you finish reading this introduction, even if you are not sure if you will come out of the closet just yet. Facial hair removal is, next to having discomfort, a time consuming and costly thing to do, for us transgender woman over 50.

The book has three parts with five chapters each. Below is the chapter contents listed of each part.

Part 1 - The beginning.

One of my favorite studio pictures I created right after I started my transition.

Chapter one: A Child is Born.

It is now Monday evening, at 05:30pm on the 6th day of May 1963, and I am born in one of the smaller hospitals in the city of Dordrecht, the Netherlands. My mom started labor at the beginning of the weekend, so she had to endure an intense delivery.

With the following topics:

It’s a Boy… or a Girl?
DES (Diethylstilbestrol) anti-miscarriage drug.
Growing up as a Child.

Chapter two: Living as a Man, and Anything Will be Okay?

So, I am not sure at which time in my childhood I accepted the fact that I was male and should act that way. And how was I even supposed to act like a male? Anything I did was just normal to me. Honestly, I didn’t really think too much of gender.

With the following topics:

School, Work and Social life.
Getting Ready for Adult Life.
Starting a Family.

Chapter three: A Dutchman in Virginia USA.

xxx.

With the following topics:

A New World, A New Me?
Four Lovely Children.
Happily Married, or Unhappily Self?

Chapter four: The First Steps.

xxx.

With the following topics:

Crossdressing.
Testing the Waters.
Self-Medication, not a Good Idea.

Chapter five: Coming Out.

xxx.

With the following topics:

Telling My Family and Friends.
The Big one… Work and Co-workers.
Finally Out of the Closet.

Part 2 - Now it gets serious.

The first official new ID, my Dutch passport, with my new gender and name.

Chapter one: Social Transitioning.

xxx.

With the following topics:

At Home.
At Society.
At Work.

Chapter two: Medical Transitioning.

xxx.

With the following topics:

Hormone Replacement Therapy.
Primary sexual characteristics.
Secondary sexual characteristics.

Chapter three: Legal Transitioning.

xxx.

With the following topics:

Official Documents: The Netherlands First.
Official Documents: The USA Second.
Now That I Am Legal the Fun Begins.

Chapter four: The Surgery Most People Think About.

xxx.

With the following topics:

SRS: Sexual Reassignment Surgery.
BA: Breast Augmentation.
FFS: Facial Feminization Surgery.

Chapter five: Fine-tuning and some other things.

xxx.

With the following topics:

Hair removal and growth.
Facial Cosmetics.
Voice Therapy.