Caught in Transition Read Online Free PDF Page A

well but it also contained a surprise - while we were there Steve went and saw a doctor in Phoenix who dealt with transsexuals. He had contacted the doctor before we left for the trip and made arrangements for this visit. I wasn't happy having to lose a day traveling to Phoenix for this, but it was important to Steve, so I couldn't stand in the way. Fortunately, I was able to spend a few hours at one of the shopping malls in north Phoenix while he saw the doctor.  

    Steve was thrilled because this doctor provided the first "legal" prescription for contra-hormone therapy. We went right to Walgreens and got everything filled. He was so happy, while part of me just felt dead inside. I felt so divided because I knew this was a path he had to take to keep his sanity but some days I felt like I was losing mine.  

    The rest of our time together in Sedona went surprisingly well. We went hiking around Bell Rock and through the Sonoran Desert. We had lovely dinners out, and many soul baring discussions sitting on the balcony in the dark, drinking wine and listening to the coyotes off in the distance. I think in talking together we became more understanding of each other’s positions with regards to the transition, this in turn led to an afternoon of wild passionate love making.

    Even though the trip itself was great, when it was over and we were leaving through the Phoenix Airport, different thoughts kept going through my mind. I was thinking; this was the last time we'd eat there together, and it would be the last time we'd pass through security together, it was the last time we would be us. The tears were very close to the surface.

    Name Change

    Before leaving for Arizona Sheelagh initiated the name change on her birth certificate. In November 2011, she received her name change certificate and a new birth certificate. The gender marker was still marked as male because GRS had to be proven in order for the gender to be changed.  

    She had already had her driver's license gender marker switched to female. She was able to do that with a note from her doctor that said it was appropriate to have the gender marker changed, so therefore the government could change it on her license.  

    Wait times for specialists in Canada take a long time, and it was in November that Sheelagh finally got to see an endocrinologist who took over from where the Phoenix doctor left off. I was happy Sheelagh was in good hands but I vacillated between being happy for her and sad for me.  

    By the time December 2011 rolled around Sheelagh had updated her name on all accounts, the property deed, and the will. I have to hand it to her - it wasn't easy to go in there and change everything from Steve to Sheelagh. She was so motivated and so pleased with finally getting to live a real life as a woman, she sucked it up and spent many long hours writing emails, letters, filling out forms and waiting on hold for customer service agents.

    I have absolutely no recall of Christmas that year. It was a quiet affair and one that has disappeared within the recesses of my mind. By the end of the year 2011 while I was still coming to grips with the reality of being married to a woman instead of a man, Sheelagh was busy setting up her future life as Sheelagh Tara May. The following is a taped interview we did with regards to her being seen as a woman within our society.  

    ME: When did your name change on your birth certificate come through?  

    SHEELAGH: The name change on the certificate came through in November 2011 and that made it possible to change the name on my driver's license. I changed that first since it's the primary source of identification. I went to Service Ontario and had to fill out a form for that and at the same time I decided to get the name on my social insurance number updated as well.

    ME: Was it easy to do?  

    SHEELAGH: With the driver's license I had to stand in line for about twenty minutes while other people came and went. The staff