Your experience, in many ways, is quite consistent with my own. Born in the late 60’s, and coming of age in the 70’s and 80’s, we saw only very rare and only very derogatory portrayals of ‘transsexuals’. If my parents had let me start puberty blockers as a teen, I likely would have ended up in the foster care system, my parents possibly jailed for child abuse. And now I’ve been on HRT for nearly a year, starting in my 50th year. I’ve never been happier. I’ve never had such a dynamic range of emotional experience. I’ve never felt more at home in my own skin. I’ve never felt more me. Some days I regret not starting sooner, but the fact is that I have an amazing life, and I am surrounded by amazing people. If I’d transitioned 30 years ago, not only would I have been in grave danger just walking down the street, but none of those people would be here to support me. Congratulations on entering this phase of your self-discovery! I hope you find it as revelatory and as rewarding as I have.