I am proud to finally be able to share the news, that I am involved with the ground-breaking series Naked Education, created by Betty TV and commissioned by Channel 4, The series aims to overcome stereotypes of body types and body image, celebrate body diversity and experiences, and generate body positivity along the way. I will be talking about being transgender, going through gender transition, discussing phalloplasty, and showing my naked body.
Personal accounts are invaluable for trans people working through lower surgery decisions. I have put together a metoidioplasty and phalloplasty book list, to help with this. When I started to explore transgender lower surgery options, the shortage of information was a huge obstacle. I could find medical accounts of phalloplasty and metoidioplasty, but there were very few subjective experiences of either of them.
The following list contains the books I have found so far which provide personal accounts of phalloplasty and metoidioplasty. Some of these books focus solely on lower surgery, others mention lower surgery as part of a broader memoir. However, all of them are useful. They all give a much-needed honest and personal account of these incredible life-changing surgical options.
Trans stories are far more diverse than those we often read in mainstream media. As transgender people, we come to discover ourselves as trans in a wide variety of ways. Then, the paths we choose in transitioning, are equally as varied. However, it is all too common to hear just one kind of transgender narrative, and not be aware of the huge diversity that exists within our community. In this blog post, I share four book recommendations* which help to highlight the wonderful diversity within our community.
Phalloplasty is a complicated procedure taking many years to complete. Deciding to go ahead with the surgery was a difficult decision. However, it’s a decision that I am now very happy to have made. In this blog, I map out my phalloplasty timeline. Linking to key videos from my journey, this blog starts from my initial decision to have surgery, through to referral, the operative stages, and completion.
Five years ago, I had a skin graft taken from my arm, as part of the first stage of my phalloplasty surgery. One of the worries of forearm phalloplasty, concerns how the arm recovers and the outcome of the scarring. In this blog, I will reflect on the healing of the graft and function of the arm over these 5 years.
One of the most common questions I am asked from transgender people starting their journey, is, “What can I do to pass as a man/woman?” I cringe at this question every time. Whilst I understand the desire to be seen correctly, I find the term ‘passing’ to be very problematic. In this blog, I want to discuss why the term passing is unhelpful. I also want to share how the term can be rephrased to help boost confidence in our gender identity.
Being transgender is not in itself a mental health condition. However, the experience of being transgender can cause many mental health complications, especially when gender dysphoria is untreated. In this blog I want to address some of the common misconceptions of gender dysphoria and mental health.
When I realized that I was transgender and that I needed to transition, seeing the long journey ahead was overwhelming. I couldn’t imagine reaching the end of that road, and yet here I am. I am at the top of that trans mountain, my medical transition is done. Now I look back on my gender transition journey with wonder and fondness. Though tough and often painful, it has been the most epic adventure of my life. As I am often asked about waiting times in the transition process, I thought it might be helpful to map out my entire gender transition, journey, from start to finish.
In December of 2019, I received the wonderful news, that Jessica Kingsley Publishers wanted to commission my first memoir. In January 2020, I signed the contract for my book deal and my dream became a reality. I am soon to be a published author! In this blog, I want to talk about how I got here, how it happened, and what’s ahead as I finalize my manuscript ready for submission.
Good recovery from surgery starts with good preparation. Preparing for your top surgery procedure well in advance will help to give you a great head start in your healing process. In this blog, I will share my tips on how to prepare for top surgery*.
I find myself torn between pride and concern on Coming Out Day. On the one hand, I love that our society has evolved to the point that we now celebrate people coming out. On the other hand, I wish it wasn’t a big deal. I look forward to the day where it doesn’t matter what our sexual orientation or gender identity is. A day when we just accept that people can fall in love with other people of any gender. A day when we also realise that gender isn’t straight forward and for some people, they need to define themselves differently. I can dream.
Chest dysphoria is extremely painful and understandably we want to find a surgeon as quickly as possible. However, it is important to take time to decide, so you can find the most suitable top surgery surgeon for your needs. In the following blog, I am going to share how I found my surgeon. I hope that these tips will help you to begin your own research process.
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