My name is Sammi, and I’m an older, more mature trans woman than you usually see with a story.
Are you starting your MTF transition after 30? Are you starting your MTF Transition after 50? Perhaps you’re even transitioning as an AMAB person after 70.
This story could be for you.
*Please note: We use terminology like AMAB (assigned male at birth), MtF (male-to-female), and trans-feminine interchangeably for understanding across all age groups, cultures, genders, and identities. For more information. check out our glossary of terms.
Transitioning as an Older Trans Woman
A story for the older male-to-female trans women transitioning after 30, 40, or 50.
I was recently sitting around a table at work with two colleagues when a young student looked over at us and said
Wow, do you know that in a few years your combined age will be 200?
He was a little out; our combined age is currently 184, but still… Naturally, we smiled and swiftly changed the subject.
This incident got me thinking about age and how different life would have been, had I been able to transition when I was young.
Of course, growing up in the 1960s, this would not have been possible. Today, despite the struggles to improve healthcare for young trans people, there is at least a level of awareness that means they are able to address their situation, talk about it and with a lot of understanding and help, live authentically. We can only imagine transitioning from male to female after 50 might be daunting but it is getting easier.
Something of which I could have only dreamed.
The struggles faced by younger people are entirely different to those faced by those who transition later in life. The hurdles they have to jump through to prove that they are of sound mind, the barriers which are put in place to delay access to treatment ‘just in case’, do not affect me. As a grown-up, I am free to choose my own path, it is generally accepted that I know my own mind and that if I say I am trans, then I am. So does that mean we have an easier ride?
Transitioning in older age is far from easy; from the baggage that comes with life already half-lived, to navigating existing relationships. Sadly, I see too many relationships fail when a long-term partner comes out as trans. I am lucky, I am married to a woman who sees me for who I am deep down and not my outward appearance. Despite my happy situation, I am in the minority.
Of course, those with a long-term partner don’t have to go down the dating route that younger people have to, so perhaps that’s one positive to transitioning in older age. I shudder at the thought of some of my older friends who now find themselves back in the dating game and dealing with the transition at the same time – double whammy.
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I love seeing before and after transition photos of the young. Seeing an unhappy teen transform into a radiant man or woman is truly inspirational. I never thought I’d even see myself as a trans woman, or even an older, more mature trans woman. I recently saw a video of a man going out topless for the first time at the park, after top surgery. He was so happy I almost cried for him. Sadly, the reality for the older body is somewhat different.
No amount of hormones or exercise will ever get my body into the shape I have always dreamed have always of. Only major surgery would ever get me to post a public before and after photo unless it’s for one of those “failure” videos on YouTube. But I guess that has nothing to do with transitioning and everything to do with gravity and the ravages of time!
Of course, I am not that shallow, and looks aren’t everything; emotional wellbeing is paramount. I try and keep track of how I am feeling and how it relates to my hormone levels. Usually though, at some point, I burst into tears and eat cake or my favourite chocolate-covered coffee beans.
One of the biggest hurdles facing the older transitioner is one of style. When you are young there is an expectation that you will try out clothing, make-up, and hair and that you will have some failures. Nobody really cares if a younger person’s sense of style is not perfect – we put it down to “being young”. Just think back to what you wore as a teenager – e.g. Bay City Rollers (look it up if you are not of my generation).
When you are older, however, there is an expectation to have the right look straight out of the box. Well of course this does not happen. In the space of the last year, since getting serious about transitioning, I have gone through many styles, all the way from slutty to frumpy, to what I hope is now “classical”. My makeup which started off like Polyfilla has gradually reduced to what I hope is a more subtle look. Another win for youth.
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As for hair removal, I shave, epilate and IPL and still some of it is there. The next step is electrolysis if I can find the time. And don’t get me started on my head hair… All of this could have been avoided if I had been able to have had hormone treatment pre-puberty. The problem was that when I grew up I had no idea what a trans person really was, all I knew was that I was different. Times have thankfully moved on. This makes it easier for the older, more mature trans women like me.
In case it isn’t apparent, in truth, I am somewhat envious of those who have their lives ahead of them, who might be lucky enough to come from a supportive family, who might get access to the hormones they need in time to be able to live their lives authentically from the start, without having to pretend. I know it is a difficult journey for anyone to have to make but I can’t help but think what life would have been like for me, had I been able to live as I had wanted.
Going through puberty for the second time is no fun at all. I didn’t really suffer much the first time around – sometimes I think because my body kind of gave up and realised turning me into a “real man” was pointless. I never had acne and never got a lot of body hair. But this time, I think I am being made to suffer unnecessarily – which does give me some sympathy for those approaching puberty for the first time (a win for the older, more mature trans women!).
With all these roadblocks one may wonder why any of us older transitioners bother. Surely it’s too late? Why don’t we just accept our fate and live in the body we were assigned at birth? We got this far…
I can only say why I continue to transition as a rather mature trans woman. For me it’s simple; I have no choice. It’s not to improve my lifestyle, to try something new or even to try being a woman. I am and always have been me, Samantha Jane, the woman in the picture. It’s just that now you can actually meet her in person – I just wish you could have done so a long time ago.
Read More:
- Understanding Transition – guest blog post Samantha Jane Smith
- My Story: Hannah Stevie Massie
- My Story: Marianne Oakes, Lead Counsellor GenderGP
- A Surgeon’s Perspective on Facial Feminisation
