Many times we read the autobiographies of those who successfully transitioned and never looked back. There are even more stories about the difficulties involved in coming to a decision about what to do about being transgendered and the process of transitioning. There are numerous papers, letters and articles written by those who come into contact with the trans population and by those who are trans. Less often do we hear of people such as Laura Davis (a pseudonym) who willingly volunteered to revert back to her male role for several months in order to support her wife of 22 years whilst training for her career and managed it with grace.
Feeling that the story should be told psychiatrist Doctor Levine asked Laura to write it for publication. The article "What I Did For Love: Temporary Returns to the Male Gender Role" was published in the International Journal of Transgenderism.
Dr Stephen Levine begins with a compassionate view of the struggles and dilemmas trans people may face to help other people to understand the trans person's experience then hands over to Laura to tell her story.
Laura deals frankly and honestly with her early life, the ripple effects of trying to cope with being trans and how, after being made an outcast by her ex-wife and children, the rift with one of her sons was healed. She writes about her emotional and physical journey, about love, integrity, beauty, art, wisdom, the rocky moments in her second marriage of 22 years and how these times were overcome. Laura explains why reverting to a male role was a choice that she made willingly and would not hesitate to do again when necessary "for my Judy".
Dr Levine ends the account with a discussion and says "To me this is a wonderful story of two human beings. It is a love story. It is a gender story. It is a human story." It is a story of growth, of moving beyond gender and of two women who each made a sacrifice for the other.
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