How do you really know?
How do you know you are trans? How did it feel coming out? Were you certain or did you go by feel? Did you doubt? Did you feel shame?
I (AMAB, 34) came out to my wife of 13 years. We have two children together (11 &

. I would say it definitely did not go well. I was clear my gender identity didn’t change the way I felt about her. My wife is completely sure she doesn’t want to be with a trans person. I’ve spent weeks watching my wife grieve the relationship she thought she’d have forever. I’ve been told I’ll make an ugly woman, that I’m choosing something superficial over my family, that I should just love myself the way I was made, that I’m going to make life hard for my kids at school… our marriage is over, I’m sleeping in the guest room trying not to wake up anxious in the middle of the night.
Since coming out, all of the inner joy and longing the idea of transitioning used to spark is nowhere to be found. There are so many unknowns to just being trans on its own let alone it ending my family. I’m an executive with a fairly public position and live in a small town. I have parents in their 60’s that would be confused at best and in-laws who are in ministry. Speaking of small town… I’m scared I’d never find anyone who’d want to be with me… not that that’s a priority at the moment.
I’m trying all sorts of mental exercises ( if you could push a button and have always been a woman would you? How would you feel if everyone else as supportive? Who would you be on an island by yourself) but in the end of the day I’m scared I’m just confused and am going to lose so much for nothing. I just want my family back. Is it love to cleave off and discard an aspect of yourself to be with the people you care deeply for? Is it even possible to call that a relationship? If I love my children can I just put it aside until they are grown for their sake? All questions and the longer this hurt sits with me the more tempted I am to just pull the parachute and try to take everything back. I felt so confident and strong at first… now it just feels like my heart played a trick on me.
I know that I felt closeted and rejected (came out as bisexual two years ago and that didn’t go well either so I was able to anticipate how this would go a bit) but it’s tempting to just take it all back. I feel like I have some choice or control over how I feel and sometimes feel guilty like I led myself here on purpose or “manipulated myself” into this. My wife even brought up a concern that my therapist had as putting ideas into my brain. Somehow the way I feel internally is someone’s “worst case scenario.”
I’m safe, I have therapy and mental health support fyi. I’m just in a lot of pain and I feel confused and scared.