From the age of eleven, I did not feel masculine. I wanted to be a woman, but it was not achievable in those days. I took great care not to have children with either of my two wives because I knew there was something wrong with me.
I began dressing as a woman in secret in 1988. Two of my marriages ended in divorce when my wives discovered my crossdressing.
After my second divorce, in 2013, my urge to dress as a woman continued. I remember that I stood in front of a mirror, naked, wishing I had breasts.
It took me many years to find out about gender affirmation surgery, procedures that help people transition to their self-identified gender.
I was diagnosed with gender dysphoria in 2013 at age 45 and my doctor agreed with me that living as a woman and starting hormones might pave the way for gender affirmation surgery.
I moved from Florida to Burbank, California where no one knew me and began living as a woman, 24-hours a day for four years without incident or difficulty. I also earned the money for my surgery from an online company that I owned.
At age 49, I returned to Florida and got my gender affirmation surgery done at the Tampa General Hospital.
One day after my 50th birthday, I began working again. As a woman.
I was delighted to finally have female breasts, soft skin, and to exist as an adult female.
It was magnificent.
