It's all about attitude.
Something you can know though; I am a FTM, not yet started on anything for the transition. I'm 20 and have all the support I could wish for. With a loving family and understanding friends I hope to make it trough this transition, but most of all do I hope I can start on it soon.
This is the worst thing for me.
I was given a name that can easily be a boy’s name too when you take away the last two letters.
But I’m not entirely sure how I feel about being Joel instead of Joelle. They’re too similar, and my birth-name does not have the most pleasant memories. If I were to pick another name I’d probably go for Jack or Jake. Those names have always stuck with me. Yet there is another problem for me; my family.
They say they’re okay with the idea my name might change to something entirely different from what they know now. Yet whenever we discuss this my mother and sister, (Especially my sister.) they grow extremely upset and keep telling me that if I keep Joel as a name, they feel they still have something of my old self, that they feel they have less to adjust to. It would be easier for them, closer to them.
And that makes me feel extremely guilty.
It’s true that in a sense the daughter you once thought you had died when she’s replaced by the son you never knew you had until the moment when said son came out. My mother firmly agrees with such a statement. She is still supportive of me, regardless of what changes might follow. And still, these discussions are difficult for me to have. They make me uncertain about what I want with my name anymore. I’d probably feel happier with a name that puts distance between who I am now and who I used to be.
Everyone is used to Joel though, and that makes it all the more problematic. Hell, my parents would have named me Joel if I was born with a male body right off the bat.
It’s difficult and I’m not even sure how to go about this anymore. It’s important I first focus on starting on this entire project. (With lack of a better word for it.)
