It was hell the first time.  How would this be different this time?  I am talking about puberty and the answer is YES.

When I was 13 I started to have changes is my body that I hated.  It started  with body hair.  In my family that means almost gorilla like.  I also started to get taller.  It ended at 5 foot 9 inches.  Then came the facial hair.  OK it was minor at 13 but was too much by 16.  These are all I have to cope with.  My transgender sisters are not so lucky.  Their voice gets deeper and get an Adam’s Apple.  Their hands and feet get larger and the forehead get broader.  This will sometimes lead to suicide.  I did know about these differences until I started my transition.  By the time I was 17 the hell stopped getting worse.

When a trans person starts Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) it triggers another puberty.  I remember the first time I took the female hormones. The voices in my head went quiet.  I felt a sensation that made my body say “FINALLY”.  After 2 months I started to see the changes I wanted.  My hair was growing faster than it did before.  I learned that I have natural curly hair.  I started to have “pain” in the chest area.  Now I had already had some development.  I had A cup size breasts before I started.  But this was different.  They were tender.  After 6 months the hair on my body started to thin. The fat started to be redistributed to area it needed to be.  After a year I no longer saw the person I pretended to be.  I saw the real me.

Things that did not change.  For me it is just facial hair and my height.  I have had electrolysis, but it got too expensive.  I have waxed it off.  That just hurts too much.  So I have to shave every day.  The hormones do slow the hair growth, but will never stop it.  I could go every other day but I cannot stand a little hair.  For others the changes that the first puberty will still be there.  The forehead and Adam’s apple can be corrected with surgery, if you can afford it.  Any structural cannot be changed.  I cannot get shorter, although when I had my back fused a I lost a half-inch.  Hand and feet cannot be changed.  This is another thing I lucked out with I have small hand and feet. This causes a lot of stress in those that it did happen to.

My second puberty has been very good so far.  They, the experts, say that it takes up to 3 years to complete.  I hope it goes longer.  The body hair is still visible.  Less but still there.  Would I do it again, no.  I like the way I am turning out.