Starting the process

Chloe,

Congratulations.  You are taking a big step.  I wish thee the best.  As I am not transitioning, I can only offer general advice.  That being said, the fact that you are putting a lot of thought into the next steps of journey and are looking to take little by little to me makes a lot of sense.  It is after all a big adjustment for everyone including yourself.

MacKenzie

Hi Chloe, I'm Maddie, welcome to cdh i think you will like it here. feel free to take a look @ my profile, that will give you a little insight as to where i am at on my journey. i would like to offer my hand to help you on your journey, i'm sure you have many questions,thoughts,and feelings.if you like you can add me as friend, i look forward to hearing from you. stay safe,stay strong. hugs, Maddie

Maddie & Mckenzie

Thank you both on all the kind words!  And I would love to continue to chat.  I'm so so so excited for my journey but definitely know there will be many obstacles.  But it's so time to finally be the true me!

💟💁 Chloe

Hi Chloe. Congrats on starting your journey. While I'm not personally transitioning, I'll give you two pieces of advice - one that's more general, and one that's based on observation of somebody in your general position.

First, always remember that your transition is a journey, not instantaneous. There will be some days that are better than others for various reasons. A step "backward" once in a while during your journey is OK as long as the overall progress is forward.

Second, quite a few years ago a guy I worked with transitioned. Like you, it seems, she had slowly added some feminine touches such as letting her hair grow out before she told the office. When we did find out, it was from a VP in our department. (I can't say for sure, but I imagine other departments had similar talks, if nothing else because she would begin using the lady's restroom.) On a Friday we were gathered together and told "John" would be out of the office for two weeks, and when he returned he would be going by the name "Jane" and presenting as a woman. (I'm not using real names; hence the quotes.) We were more or less told if we had an issue with it, too bad - it was going to happen, and the company was going to support her. But we could use that two week period to "adjust" our thinking, and to ask any questions of either our manager or HR.

Bringing that around to your situation, I think "Jane" arranging things so we found out on a Friday afternoon right before she would be out for a few weeks was a good plan. Of course, Jane was helped by HR adamantly being on her side, but the two week "cooling off" period helped a lot of people, I think. So, if you could arrange for a similar period - even if only a week - it could prove helpful, depending of course on the general culture in your workplace and such. At the very least, be cognizant of the laws in your state and city regarding gender identity; it's not a "protected" class everywhere, unfortunately, so being aware of what HR has to do to accommodate you will be useful. Hopefully, they go above the minimum, as my company did for Jane.

I'm really happy for you, Honey! *hug* Best of luck, and hopefully there's no looking back!

Congrats Chloe on finally reaching the big decision which so many us want in our hearts too. I have two friends that have transitioned and are so happy they did so.Hugs brave girl