I came from a very conservative family, and there was no way my mother would have allowed me to transition as a teenager.

If you know you're trans, like I did when I was younger, my only suggestion is to be patient. If you have a family that will accept you, that loves you, wants to help you, and if you feel safe enough to transition as a teenager, then do it.

But if you aren't safe to transition, you need to hang on. You need to have hope that either someone might have a change of heart, or you might be able to emancipate yourself, and then you can do whatever you want.

When you're 13 years old, puberty makes a whole mess of your gender. I'm a proponent of letting kids express themselves as whatever gender they want, and I think it’s helpful to seek gender-affirming therapy.

I was three when I figured out I was different. I was nine when I knew I should have been a girl. I was 15 when I realized what I figured out what the term transgender was. If I could go back to myself at those points, I would reassure myself that it's gonna be okay.

It won't be easy but I will be okay. I was 35 when I started my transition, and going through second puberty at age 35 is not a picnic. I started my transition when my son was just about two, and he mostly remembers me as I am now.

I've shown him pictures of myself before transition holding him as a baby. And he looks at that picture and goes, "Oh mommy, that's you with short hair."

My son understands that I am a woman. It's very simple for little kids. I don't understand why adults have this problem.

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