I have known for a long time I want to have a sex change. But I am still scared. What happens when I choose to become a woman?

In the Netherlands hundreds of people have had a sex reassignment, with excellent results. Normally you first start living as a woman, while your body is unchanged. During this period you can start to feel what it is like and decide if this is really what you want. If you know for sure that it’s the right course of action you start hormone therapy, stimulating breast growth and reducing hair growth. When you go for surgery they change your penis into a vulva. This can be done so well that you can hardly distinguish it from a “real vulva.” During this whole process you get help moving and talking like a woman, for instance changing the pitch of your voice. The younger you start a sex change the easier the transition normally is. Physical outcome is more satisfactory, especially male to female, and it is easier to adjust since you are not as much set in your ways yet. Because sex change surgery is irreversible the preparation takes a long time, talking to many people and thinking it through from different perspectives.