Growing up, Gigi didn’t think too hard about why she preferred being friends with girls or why she liked dressing in her mom’s clothes. “As a young kid, I didn’t really fit in. I was considered a big weirdo,” she says. “But I just didn’t know I was a girl.”
It wasn’t until 2023 that everything came together. After multiple health challenges, including a stroke, Gigi signed up for therapy. At her first visit, the therapist asked, “Are you aware that you have gender dysphoria?" Gigi had never heard this term before but learned that it was a psychological condition she was born with and that there were treatments available.
“That was one of the best hours of my life,” Gigi says. She immediately started down the path to realizing her true self.
Gigi was referred to BMC’s GenderCare Center, which provides comprehensive gender-affirming care including surgery, behavioral health, community resources, and more.
“BMC is such a wonderful place to go."
Guided by endocrinologist Dr. Beth Cohen, Gigi started hormones nine days later and began mapping out the rest of her treatment plan, including electrolysis, bottom surgery, facial feminization surgery (FFS), and top surgery.
At 63, she was anxious to move her transition along. “My motto from the start has been, ‘Go as far as I can, as fast as I can,’” she explains. Unfortunately, Crohn’s disease got in the way, and she needed major gastrointestinal surgery in March 2024. >
But Gigi is not easily deterred. Her health and outlook are the best they’ve ever been, and she already has a new plan in place to complete her surgeries by 2026. She is hopeful that her 90-year-old mother, who fully supports her, will witness her full transition. “I was a human body holding a vacant soul,” says Gigi. “Now I'm able to fill my soul as well and am bringing my body in line with my soul.”
Gigi enthusiastically waved both the pride and transgender flags at the Pride Parade in Boston on June 8. “Pride is showing yourself as you really are, no matter what the rest of the world expects. In life, you will learn a lot about yourself that you may not have understood were there to begin with. Don’t be afraid of what you learn.”