When a person is born in a male body and she wears, from time to time or daily, a bra, a panties, a pantyhose, a dress, a skirt, a blouse,  high heels, make-up, nail polish, jewels, perfume and even a garterbelt or a corset if she likes that, some people will say that she is crazy.
 

In my case, I prefer to say that I am just a «Person in transition» who wishes to live as a woman. I will precise this point in the following paragraphs with some necessary shades.

However, perhaps I am just a transgender, a person in transition, a pre-op transexual, a she-male, a full-time transvestite, a fetichist, an hormoned transvestite, a crossdresser or any other word or expression that may describe an intermediate status between the conventionnal man and the conventionnal woman, I may simplify everything by only describing my physical or visual aspect.

Every day, I dress and I make-up myself like any conventionnal woman and that means that I wear a dress, a bra, pantyhose, tights, high heels shoes or boots and so on. Furthermore, when some people ask me why I wear a bra even if I have not gone through surgery for breasts implants, the reason is very easy to understand : after having submitted myself to an hormonal therapy, I am now the proud owner of natural breasts that are visible and I need a bra to support them.
 

I would like to draw your attention to a problem which I consider important given that I live it every day and that I'm not the only one to live with this problem; this is the problem of the recognition of status for a person in transition, the difficulties which she encounters and the treatments which she must undergo.

I always use the example of a man who dresses himself as a woman or who is living as a woman or who is thinking that he is a woman.

However, this example may also be applied to a woman who dresses herself as a man or who is living as a man or who is thinking that she is a man.

All definitions use the male form but they apply to both men and women.
 

A «transvestite» is a man who needs to dress as a woman for fun, excitation, exhibitionism or fetichism but always for few hours or one or two days. A «transgender» is a man who dresses himself as a woman because he is thinking that he is a woman with a body slightly different of the body of other women. He may use surgery, implants, laser or some other things to change or not, a little bit or a lot, his appearance to look more feminine. Usually, he will not pass through the Sex Change Surgery but he will live and work as a woman. So, she will dressed herself as a woman, will act like a woman and will identify herself as a woman. A «transexual» is a man who needs the Sex Change Surgery to change his body because he believes that she is a woman trapped in a male body.

The expression «Person in transition» applies to a person where the «Sexual anatomy» and the «Sexual identity» are incompatible with each other and who intends to make his «Sexual anatomy» compatible with her «Sexual identity».

The «Sexual anatomy» is the exterior appearance of a person : it is the physical sex. In 99.9% of cases, it is possible by regarding a nude person to determine at a glance if this person is of the masculine or feminine sex. Nature sometimes makes mistakes, there remains a small 0.1% of ambiguous cases.

The «Sexual identity» or «Gender identity» is what the person believes to be : it is the gender. It is therefore a psychological notion and only the person can say if he feels that he is a man or if she feels that she is a woman.

The «Sexual orientation» concerns the sexual preference : a person may have a preference for a person of the same sex or of the opposite sex, for an animal or for an object. In the problem which I present to you, this has no importance.

As you know, there exist people who discover after a certain time that their sexual identities do not correspond to their sexual anatomy. For example, a person of feminine gender who lives in a male body.

Traditionally, these people had to live with a permanent dichotomy, that is with a difference between the gender which they have in spirit and the sex or the body which is theirs. Certain people have tried suicide, others have tried to mutilate themselves by cutting certain organs and others have tried to live with this permanent dysphoria.

Many words are used to identify a people like me; for example : 

Let's take the example of a person born with a male body but who is of feminine gender. She therefore presents a dichotomy which she wants to smooth away in order to make her life more agreeable. To do this, she chooses to become a «person in transition» and to proceed toward modifications to her body and her life.

The traditional schema of sex change, in the case of male to female sex is conceived in the following manner. According to the schools of thought, this schema may vary sightly but it is similar.

In the same manner, there exists an analogous schema for a person who desires to change from a feminine body to a masculine one.
 

As the first step, the person must live full-time as a woman for at least one year. This means dressing as a woman, makeup, hair, living as a woman and working as a woman; therefore being a woman like any other woman. The period of one year may seem long but is intended to assure that the «person in transition» feels at ease. In my case, I've completed this step sucessfully.

When you live dressed as a woman, you usually wear breast forms to obtain a more feminine look. If you encounter some difficulties to find breast forms or if you don't know where to buy good breast forms at a very afforable price, I suggest that your surf on the website of Amazon; you will certainly find what you are looking for to give you a very feminine look. 

If you wish a suggestion, choose the model that you like the look. Check the fitting chart to determine the appropriate size.

Remember that you will wear them on a daily basis.

Also, if you wish to wear a corset, just go to the website of Amazon too.

The second step is that of hormonal replacement therapy. During this step, the «person in transition» takes, at the same time, a female hormone and an anti-androgen.

The female hormone is intended primarily to increase the size of the breasts and the anti-androgen is intended to stop the production of male hormones in order to help the female hormone to better accomplish its task.

As a side effect, the anti-androgen will lead to the production of sperm stopping, the size of the penis being reduced by two thirds and the person will no longer be able to have an erection. This is effectively a chemical castration.

The chemical castration is nonetheless reversable if the person interrupts, every two or three months and for periods of at least two or three months, the use of anti-androgens in order to permit their hormonal system to resume its normal functions.

Meanwhile, if the «person in transition» takes an anti-androgen during a continuous period of more than three years, the result is a permanent chemical castration which is irreversable. Nonetheless, it is possible to suspend hormonal treatment for a certain amount of time to allow the body to adjust and to restart after a certain time.

This hormonal therapy can last from six to thirty-six months depending on the result obtained and on the state of health of the patient.

The size of breasts which will be obtained by hormone therapy varies widely from one person to another; the «person in transition» can obtain good-sized breasts but the result can sometimes be disappointing; it's a question of genetic codes and it's impossible to change this. The same phenomenon appears among women who may have small breasts or large breasts.

The third step is that of mammary augmentation : the introduction of mammary implants to obtain breasts of the desired size if the hormonal therapy did not provide the anticipated result. We enter a critical stage as the insertion of mammary implants is major surgery.

From the moment when a «person in transition» makes the step of receiving mammary implants, her life is changed forever or almost as now she possesses relatively large breasts. Once this step is completed, the «person in transition» will generally wait a few months to permit complete healing of the wounds which result from the insertion of mammary implants.

In my case, I've declined this third step, that of mammary augmentation by implants. Effectively, as everyone is aware of the severe health problems undergone by many women following insertion of mammary implants, I chose to proceed with hormonal therapy only in order not to run this unnecessary risk.

I have therefore decided to continue to undergo hormonal therapy in order to maximise the size of my breasts, which means that it's possible that I will undergo hormonal therapy for a rather long period of time but I'm not in a hurry as the results are already very satisfactory.

The fourth step is the final and decisive one, it's the ablation of the penis and it's transformation into a vagina. Once this step is complete, there is no longer the option to reverse the process.

This entire process of changing sex can extend over a period as short as one year, which is very uncommon, or may extend over a much longer period such as ten years.

The difficulty of this process depends on the manner in which the «person in transition» adapts to this change but it extends generally over a period of five to ten years.
 

The Sex Change Surgery or SCR or Gender Reassignment Surgery or GRS or Sex Reassignment Surgery or SRS are different words or expressions to describe the same thing : how to change the sex of a person.

Surgery has made immense progress to the point where it's relatively easy to modify a male body to create a more feminine body and it's also possible, despite certain difficulties and medical complications, to modify a female body to create a more masculine body.

In both cases, the results are still limited because the «new woman» cannot have a child and the «new man» cannot have functional erection. Additionally, the nervous system is somewhat cut by the surgical operations.

Nonetheless, for a person who wants at any price to undergo corrective surgery to have a body which corresponds more with the «standard» model of the desired sex, in order to be better accepted by society, surgery constitutes an acceptable compromise.

On March 28, 1998, I have assisted to the seminar given by doctors Yvon Menard and Pierre Brassard, the two best well known surgeons from Montreal for SRS or GRS (Sex or Gender Reassignment Surgery) for both male to female or female to male.

The seminar is excellent and if you need to contact them, this is their address and a direct link to their website and e-mail :

It may be a very good idea to consult ASTT(e)Q - Actions Santé : Travestie(e)s et Transsexuel(le)s du Québec - that may help you to find the good persons and the good ressources to do a good choice by writing or phoning her at :

ASTT(e)Q - Actions Santé : Travestie(e)s et Transsexuel(le)s du Québec
1300, rue Sanguinet
Montréal, Québec
Canada, H2X 3E7

It is important to note that a «person in transition» can stop this process at any time if she determines that she has made an error. The consequences will be more or less serious or permanent depending on the step at which the «person in transition» stops.

For instance, if the «person in transition» stops during the first step, her body has not been affected.

If the «person in transition» stops during the second step, her body has been more or less affected. In my case, if I stop at this step which I have reached, I would have to keep the breasts which I possess because, even if I stop taking hormones, they do not reduce in volume. Therefore, I have breasts and unless removed by surgery, I have them for life and from now on, I have to wear a bra for the rest of my life because I have breasts.

If the «person in transition» stops after the third step, she would have to keep her breasts or have the implants surgically removed. Evidently, this leaves scars but this is the logical consequence of the removal of mammary implants.

Finally, if the «person in transition» stops after the fourth step, she now possess a woman's body and must keep this body until the end of her life.

One could always use surgery to have the mammary implants and vagina removed and ask for a penile reconstruction, but this is far from simple to do. Such a case does exist and was confirmed to me by persons at the office of the Registrar of civil status ; this is the case of a man who became a woman and who wants to re-become a man.

This is unfortunate for this person but she will never re-become the man which she was.
 

During this entire process, which may extend over a very long period, the «person in transition» must live the life of a person of the opposite sex.

In my case, I chose to become a «person in transition» and to direct myself in a gentle manner with much reflection towards modifications to my body and my life.

In order to facilitate my life, my transition and my adaptation toward the feminine gender, I chose in 1986 to use a traditionally feminine first name on each occasion where I present myself as a woman. I have therefore created and developed the personality of a woman who possesses many identity cards, credit cards, service cards and other similar documents.

Meanwhile, to finalise this transition in identity, the «person in transition» must obtain a modification of the birth certificate and, at this moment, the person in transition faces a large obstacle : the Registrar of civil status.
 
 

It is very easy to obtain a passport ; you have just to fill up the form and send it with a cheque to cover the fees, your pictures and a birth certificate.

The difficulty is about what you will have on your passport if it not exactly what you have on your birth certificate.

There is something important that you must understand.

As a citizen of your country, you have the right to have a passport and no law can deprive you of this right.

For the gender, the Bureau of passport of your country will check your birth certificate :

If it is written male on your birth certificate, male will be written in your passport.

If it is written female on your birth certificate, female will be written in your passport.

However, you can choose to have an « X » if you do not wish to have a « M » or a « F ».

If it is written male on your birth certificate and you wish to change it, you usually need a judgment of the court to obtain an order to change the gender on your birth certiticate.

Usually, the court will issue an order to change the gender on your birth certiticate if you have passed through a Sex Reassingment Surgery or SRS or aGender Reassingment Surgery or GRS.

However, it is possible that the change of the gender on your birth certiticate is not authorized in the province or the state where you are born.

Some time, there are some restrictions, problems or regulations that may delay you a little bit.

For example, if you have moved out of the province or the state where you are born. If you are born in the province of Quebec and you have moved to the province of Ontario or to New York state, the superior Court of Quebec will refuse to issue an order to change the gender on your birth certiticate unless you come back to live in Quebec for at least one year. After this period of one year, you may deposit a petition at the court and the superior Court of Quebec may issue an order to the Registrar of civil status to change the gender on your birth certiticate.

For example, your province or your state may require that the surgery has been performed inside the province or the state. If not, it may be impossible to obtain an order to change the gender on your birth certiticate. However, it is possible that the law in your province or your state may authorize the change of the gender on your birth certiticate if a physician or a surgeon of your province or your state certify that you have passed through a Sex Reassingment Surgery  or a Gender Reassingment Surgery, that the surgery is complete and that you now possess all the physical and visible caracteristics of a person of the other sex.

For example, your province or your state may require that you pass through some psychiatric examen to show to a psychiatrist that you are really a person of the opposite sex.

So, you may obtain your passport but not always with what you wish.

The Bureau of passport of your country will issue a passport with the picture that you will give to it.

So, you choose how you will be dressed!

In my case, even if was written male on my birth certificate and, consequently, male in my passport, the picture in my passport was the picture of a lovely tall woman with very long blonde hairs wearing a red dress with pearls earrings and necklace, full make-up and gorgeous red lips.

So, in my case, when I travel, I will say that I am obliged to wear dress, bra, panties, make-up and so on because this is the way that I appear on my passport.

So, if you do not wish to be delay at the gate in the airport, please have the same face on you than the picture in your passport.

The question is : how do you wish to travel or how can you travel?

If you can travel as a woman or if you wish to travel as a woman, put a female picture of you in your passport and travel as a woman.

If you wish to travel as a woman but you have to change back as a man when you will arrive at your destination, put a female picture of you in your passport and travel as a woman.

If you can not travel as a woman or if you do not wish to travel as a woman, put a male picture of you in your passport and travel as a man. When you will arrive at your destination, you may change yourself as a woman and live as a woman there. When you will come back,  you may change yourself back as a man and travel as a man.

You may travel with a lot of female clothings in your suitcase; it is your right and nobody will bother you.

Just be fair and honest with the customs officers and the police offiers in the airport and you will not have any problem.

If you wish, go to the website of Passport Canada to obtain more detailed information about how to obtain a Canadian passport.

The rules are different in the other countries but they are similar since September 11, 2001 because all the countries of the Western Hemisphere have adopted new rules regarding how to obtain a passport to limit the risk of giving a passport to a terrorist.