Question About Meetings

[Guest LoriTG]

Hello Everyone!

My name is Lori and I live in south western, Pennsylvania. I live fulltime as a female. I am an addict but am in treatment. I have started to go to NA Meetings for the last month or so. I don't have a sponsor but have been talking to a woman that might want to be my sponsor. Should I tell her I am a pre-op transsexual? Also I would like to hear from anyone that have been in treatment that had to do a chemical history.

[Guest]

Very long giggle here. Ah, chemical history? Giggle again. You might say I was a quintessential party animal back in the day. I then had ten years in the program. Got married in the program, went back out. Dumb! Then came in and out of the program like a revolving door. Two kids and seven divorced years later, I'm a single clean&sober TransMom. Ooops, sorry I forgot...

Hi, I'm JodyAnn. I'm an alcoholic. Giggle. (dingy room of smiles "Hi, Jody!") I have returned to the program with the best sobriety I have ever had. Where did I come from. The street and a long road to the meeting hall. When asked my former drug of choice? My standard reply is Physician's Desk Reference Volumes One and Two. What ever said "Do not take with alcohol" in the side effects warnings. That and smoking pot by the acres. It really boils down to my core issue. Beer to Everclear. I have a really cool Godshot sponsor. She is thirty five years sober in the progam, a licensed therapist and her second husband transitioned.I met her too and they are still best girl friends. LOL! God knows, I need all that help! The topic? Finding a sponsor?

It's a little hard to say, not knowing your group and your candidate. I say, go with your gut feeling. That may make for a really cool fifth step, if you don't procrastinate for years. The other thing I rely on is all the old timers that told me, I am only as sick as my secrets. I'm pre-op HRT full time legally 24/7 woman. I am popular in all of my many groups I attend. I had very huge fear coming out, as to how well I would be accepted. It's a God deal. If she pans out as a good sponsor, she will probably help make it easier to have confidence coming out to anybody. Only you know your situation. I think you may want to write about it. Talk to your HP about it a lot. Meditate to listen for the right answers? The answers will come if your own house is in order. Don't ya just hate all those old sayings. Giggle. But darn, they work! There are many other good program people here too, most will probably ring in here soon. That's it I pass.

(You can also PM me, if you want to here me parrot the program so more. Polly wanna chip! Nope! Make mine Medallions! Giggle.)

Welcome home. Hug. JodyAnn

[VickySGV]

My primary DOC was old Al Cohol, but four years sober on my second trip up the steps. I had a relapse due to my GD and the honesty issue or I would be in the high 20 years of recovery since I did it for 17+ before my GD kicked my fanny. Honesty is one of the issues you are going to have to face eventually, so sound out your potential sponsors in straight women's meetings, or go to a GLBT meeting. It is honesty that destroys us if we do not work on it and with it. Most 12 step groups these days recognize that addiction does not occur in a vacuum and will let you talk about your GD as it pertains to your addiction, cause, or recovery plan but the GLBT meetings are just a bit looser since the subject is not a distraction from recovery, where it could be in a straight meeting.

For a TG meeting that takes in all sorts AA/NA etc, come on over to Chat on Sunday evenings at 9PM Eastern time. One of your neighbors is a regular there with us and we have a good time if no one is hurting, and a supportive time if someone is hurting, and sometimes we get the hurting to a point of at least being enjoyable. There are a couple people there who also have info on a Skype TG AA/NA meeting on Thursdays. I am one of the co-moderators in the chatroom there, so we do keep the subject on recovery either in serious fashion or in recovery humor, or TG issues faced by addicts like the bunch of us.

This was my intro on these forums here a couple of years ago http://www.lauras-playground.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=33881

[Guest]

Just thought I would throw in a pic of me back in the drug daze. Lord! I was so young! That, and so hairy. I wish I had that head of hair now days. The face fur, gratefully gone. A four inch beard is hugely hot, I mean temperature. Get a job! Hippi!

Sniff... makes me want to wear a sun dress and pick flowers in a meadow... Sigh... We'll sing in the sunshine, We'll laugh every day... I know, don't quit the day job. Giggle. Hug. JodyAnn

[Michelle 2010]

Hello Everyone!

My name is Lori and I live in south western, Pennsylvania. I live fulltime as a female. I am an addict but am in treatment. I have started to go to NA Meetings for the last month or so. I don't have a sponsor but have been talking to a woman that might want to be my sponsor. Should I tell her I am a pre-op transsexual? Also I would like to hear from anyone that have been in treatment that had to do a chemical history. How

Did you tell her you were looking? Is that why she might? Or did she just volunteer without you asking?

Anyway, since I have a female Al-anon sponsor i think my answer to your question may be a little different than it would have been a few years ago. If she wants to be your sponsor and has talked to you and you think she has what you want, why not simply say yes? In the first meeting or two with her simply tell her you have a female brain and needed a female sponsor, but the body isn't totally aligned yet, that in fact you are trans. Who knows, she may know already...

Good luck!

Michelle

[Charlize]

You have some good advice already. If you are going to have a sponsor honesty will be critical so i would simply recommend you start off that way. It took me some time but i was finally honest with my sponsor. Now i bring that same feeling to whole meetings and share about being trans if i think that it might help others to share their inner conflicts. I sponsor 2 women and told each of them about being pre-op before i agreed to be their sponsor. I want them to understand that if either of us becomes sexually attracted to the other that i'll have to break the sponsorship off. I love both of the women now and am happy to be able to cofide in them. I don't have a female sponsor yet but may at some point.

Hugs,

Charlie