Are you curious to know how much money it costs to transition? I can tell you it is usually 4 figures and up by the time you are done, but that is not the question I am asking here.
The question here is, what is the cost of NOT transitioning?
That may sound like an odd question, but before we jump into that let’s briefly look at the possible costs of transitioning. Then we can compare them
- Loss of friends & family
- Loss of job
- Financial costs
- Pain, many of the processes are painful
- and more
The cost of not transitioning could be summed up in one word, death. When I didn’t know who I was I just went through life thinking I was very messed up and odd. But once I knew I am trans there was no more makes excuses. As the reality of who I am inside became clearer and more real the chore of pretend to be someone I am not become more and more difficult. I hate to say it but many trans people die every year because they can’t be themselves and the intense pain this causes pushes them to suicide. That would have been me had I not had a loving family that supported me and allowed me to be me.
Yes the cost of transitioning has been high, both in dollars and in so many more important ways. But I am fortunate to be able to say over all the blessing have far out weight the cost. And while I have had some intensely painful times even in the hardest time I have been able to say, “I would rather live one more day as my true self, as Jasmine-Arabella, then a thousand years as the person I never was”.