This story, while fictional, is based on real life events in the lives of thousands born male with female identity. They are by nature psychologically and emotionally female but anatomically male. It is a matter of gender identity with these individuals. They are not transvestites but transsexual or transgender. In order to correct nature's mistake, as it might be called but not as yet fully understood, many of these individuals choose to have transsexual reassignment surgery, also know as SRS. SRS surgically changes their bodies that lets them identify their female perception of themselves. This transgender reassignment takes years to accomplish, beginning with extensive psychological therapy and then followed by years of individual kinds of surgeries and surgical procedures to complete the transformation. While this kind of surgery is done in places around the world, the small town of Trinidad, CO, has become known as "The Sex Capital of the World" because so many SRSs are done there. It is here Stanley Biber, MD, has done more than 3800 SRSs himself, and Marci L Bowers, MD, joined Doctor Biber to work and operate in the same field of SRSs.
There have been many transgender individuals who have been and are beautiful and talented individuals whose names shall go unmentioned; although, many have been in society's and professional spotlights.
In writing this story I have condensed the time frame needed to complete the whole process of transgender reassignment that includes SRSs, and beyond the specific place and professional names, any resemblance to places, characters, and events is purely coincidental.
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Alexandra sat in first class on a
Boeing 757
out of
Trinidad, Colorado
, to
J. F. K. International Airport
in
New York City
. It had been eight, long, pain filled weeks since she went to Trinidad, "The Sex Capital of the World," to have sex gender surgery done by Marci L Bowers, MD, who had left her thriving practice in
Seattle, Washington
, to join Stanley Biber, MD. Now seventy-five years old, he is in the process of retiring, having done over 3800 such surgeries during his practice at
Mount San Rafael Hospital.
As Alexandra stared out the window, her mind drifted back to her past when it all began.
No one knew when she was born and named Alex that she was a girl with a boy's body. Nevertheless, in time, as she became older, she felt emotionally that she was a female trapped in a boy's body. Not to be signaled out, however, she did male things because it was expected of her; nevertheless, she was very aware of how she looked at herself and how she felt inside despite what she saw on the outside, and thus she lived a very unhappy childhood. Even her parents felt something was not quite right with Alex, but they had no clue or understanding as to what it might be. Oh, yes, they had taken her to a psychiatrist to see if she could help her understand why she should be more like a boy. All of this was to no avail, however.
Therefore, when Alexandra became twenty-one and was on her own, she sought counseling regarding her being a female trapped inside a male's body. Fortunately, the female psychiatrist whom she saw was well aware of transgender physiological and psychological confusion. Believing this might be Alexandra's problem, she talked with her about transgender identity and her having the choice of having sexual reassignment surgery so that her body would be surgically changed in order for her to look on the outside the way she felt on the inside. Female to female and not female to male.
Upon hearing this, Alexandra's interest was instantaneous, and she asked her psychiatrist to tell her more. She told Alexandra it was a long and difficult process that took years, first beginning with psychological counseling to determine if she were really a case of mistaken gender and, if so, did she really want to make the change since once having the transgender surgery there was no turning back.
If, after it was determined Alexandra was, indeed, a candidate for Trans Reassignment Surgery or SRS, she would begin a series of female hormone treatments, estrogen, to stimulate the growth of secondary sexual characteristics such as breasts; however, with this kind of surgery the developing breasts would most likely require saline augmentation to increase their size, fullness, and shape, the new implants being made to look more like a woman's real breasts rather then the round bowl look. Estrogen would also stop facial hair growth.
The surgery itself was very involved to change Alexandra's body from male to female with many procedures that were painful and costly, the SRS costing about $70,000 alone. However, being young, Alexandra thought it was worth it, and thus she had the surgery and joined the long list of those who had gone before her, many of whom were and are beautiful and famous in various professional fields such as movie stars, entertainers, writers, doctors, and more. Some were so beautiful they could make the centerfold of
Playboy
magazine.
For a woman Alexandra was tall at five feet eleven inches and stunningly gorgeous. She had a beautiful face that was long, but her full-lips balanced it quite well. She had long, shining blonde hair that fell to one side or the other and down her back below her shoulders, and when she leaned her head forward or flipped her hair by tossing it with a shake of her head, it covered that part of her forehead and an eye, somewhat like the beautiful 50s movie star Veronica Lake. Her eyes were deep blue set off with dark, black pupils that always seemed to have a speck of light aglow in them, and her nose was straight with a sculptured, round end.
Alexandra had the choice of the breast size she wanted...within the bounds of what the surgeons had to work with...and she chose to be a 34 C so her breasts would match the fullness of her hips that measured thirty-four inches. Her waist was twenty-five inches, giving her a beautifully balanced body, 34 – 25 – 34.
All these memories of days, weeks, months, and years of mental anguish and physical pain weaved their way through Alexandra's mind during the flight until she was rudely shaken out of her reverie when the jet hit hard on the runway, and the Captain reversed the engines and raised the spoilers to slow the plane down to ninety miles per hour before he could apply the brakes.
As always it took quite some time to deplane the passengers since the aisle was full of them getting their carry-on luggage from the overhead compartments and then filling the aisle only to wait impatiently to get off and on their way to wherever. First class passengers had the privilege of deplaning before the coach passengers, one of the perks for paying so much more for their tickets. Yes, first class cost Alexandra more money, but she wanted to have more space and not be enclosed with the crowded seats in the coach section. Since she had only her carry-on luggage and a handbag, Alexandra didn't have to bother going to Baggage Claim and buck the crowds waiting for their luggage to come rolling out on a conveyor belt. She went immediately outside to catch a taxi into the city.
As usual there is always a line of taxis waiting to pick up passengers, so there was one for Alexandra immediately as she went through the set of double doors. A worker opened the taxi door for her, and as she entered the cab, she handed the man five dollars.
"Why, thank you, Mam," he said appreciatively for the generous tip.
The cabbie turned his head slightly and asked, "Where to?"
"To
Bleecker Street
down town in the Village just a few buildings off
