Transcript of
Transgender: Ruth's story
I knew I wanted to transition at the age of 16.
I'd spent a lot of time during my early teens figuring stuff out.
When you're that age you don't have words for it
and you don't assume that you're particularly abnormal,
but going to sleep every night hoping I was going to wake up female
should have possibly told me that there was something up.
I realised that I felt that I was female
but there were issues in how others perceived me
and also in how my body happened to look.
I just felt I should be a girl rather than a boy,
which is always odd to explain.
I didn't tell my family immediately.
I first came out to my friends.
I talked to them, I read a lot on the internet and I found out a lot.
My family I told a bit later,
once I'd already started seeing a psychotherapist.
My mum didn't like it but essentially took it on board and tried to be helpful
and my dad didn't like it more,
but again it was something that was a problem for him,
but he didn't really want to stop me from being myself.
My parents know I'm the same person.
I originally went to my GP when I was 17
and he referred me on to a psychotherapist in the area,
who I saw for around a year.
I realised that I wasn't mentally ill, actually.
I realised that I didn't really have many problems
except that I felt I was transgender,
and towards the end of that time
I started essentially living as a girl rather than as a boy
and also applied for university.
The psychotherapist referred me to a gender clinic in Bristol
and then they referred me on to the Gender Identity Clinic in London,
who, after a couple more appointments, approved hormone treatment.
And then later they approved me for surgery also.
Hormone therapy is the biggest change
and, for most people, the most important
if they're transitioning medically.
My body changed.
Fat redistributed, which essentially meant my breasts grew,
I got more fat on my hips, my face changed shape a little.
And that made the biggest difference.
Genital surgery has also had an impact, but more subtle
because it's not something that people see, it's a personal thing.
It's immensely uncomfortable to have people perceive you as male
when you feel that you're female.
Transitioning medically gave me confidence.
It made me a lot happier in myself and in my relations with other people
because I feel I don't need to hide something.
The hardest parts aren't to do with me dealing with stuff personally,
it's dealing with the attitudes of other people.
I feel very good about myself now.
I feel like I've got a successful life.
I've got a good degree
and I have a lot of friends, I have a wide social life
and I generally feel that I have a lot more opportunities
because things are easier for me on a personal level than they used to be.