I didn ' t start HRT until I was 29 years old . I really hoped that someday I would pass , but figured I probably wouldn ' t . For the next eighteen months I struggled with it , my breasts were barely growing , I had no figure , and my face changes were slow at best . I started going back to school in girl mode , and that helped a bit , but I still felt like I was a guy in a dress . But two weeks ago I met someone from my past who transitioned five years ago . She encouraged me and inspired me to start working out again and to work on my voice something I had yet to do . And I decided to post some more recent pictures on my facebook . Lo and behold , people who hadn ' t seen me in six months said that I had gone from somewhat androgynous to full girl during that time . I have a long road ahead of me , but I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel . That is happiness to me .