A 26-year old woman has opened up on her journey into transitioning as a man before deciding to go back to being a woman.
Issa Ismail/Alia Ismail, a barber from Detroit in Michigan was born a woman but at the age of 19 she struggled with her gender identity and she decided to transition into being a man.
For six years, she took testosterone hormones that helped her gain the masculinity features including hair growth on the face, redistribution of fats away from her hips and breasts, even deepening her voice and helping her body to gain muscles.
The testosterone helped her menstrual cycle to stop and she had her breasts removed surgically in 2016.
About 3-4 years of trying to become a man, Ismail started being depressed and realized that she was not happy living like a man hence her decision to go back to her natural gender in February 2021.
“I was a very fluid child from birth to like about 12 years, I was this Tom boy as you wanna say it. From 13 to about 18 I was this hyper- feminine teenage girl, dating boys, wearing make-up, all those things. From 19 to almost 27, I was this masculine man and now am in this period where I am more feminine” Ismail said in an interview.
Due to the depression, Ismail took a u-turn and stopped taking the hormones, something that gave her an instant relief.
“After the third or fourth year mark, that was when the feelings of depression were getting really bad for me. I kind of had this epiphany – I don’t have to be on hormones for the rest of my life. It was like a shock to me, but the next feeling that I had was a feeling of relief. That’s when I knew I had to listen to myself,” she narrated.
She opened up hoping that her story would inspire those who are struggling with their gender identity and are unsure of transitioning.
‘”It’s quite interesting thinking about my life like that and how it goes through stages. The fluidity is so there that I can’t deny it. The best advice I can give about transitioning or de-transitioning is truly listening to yourself and following your intuition, heart, gut feeling.
“That truly is going to give you all the signs that you need. Whatever you start to resonate towards, ebb and flow with that. I want to help trans people feel solidified in their identity and I want to also help trans people to feel comfortable and OK with questioning their identity,” Ismail said.
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