Hi AlwaysChanging2: I pleased that you now have future goals! I'm not familiar with Sona Avedian. I'll have to look her up. Thanks for mentioning her.

I was an only child. In my case, I guess I was fortunate that I was really only caught a very few times. And when I was I managed to make up a quick story that my parents bought... or I just managed to deflect their curiosity in some other way. When I was growing up the whole concept of a person being transgender wasn't even on anyone's radar. So it is not something that would even have occurred to my parents. I didn't understand it myself.

I learned very early on in my life (I don't know how) that, what I now understand to have been transgender compulsions, were things I must never divulge to anyone. And so I kept them a closely guarded secret until just a few years ago. (I wish they still were secret.) As a result, I think I developed something of a split personality. There was the outwardly male me... the person I was to the outside world. And then there was the female me... the one that I kept hidden deep inside. I still feel her presence within me, although recently it seems as though she has faded somewhat. That's another story.

Anyway, thanks for your post. I believe I have some understanding of what you went through...