‘Once I get my surgery I will be able to be my authentic self’
A TRANSGENDER woman from Dunshaughlin who is fundraising to undergo reassignment surgery says it would be “a dream come true” for her body “to reflect how she feels on the inside.”
Cara Aishling Maughan (24) realised that she was born in the wrong body at the age of 15.
Growing up in a small rural village in Westmeath she admits that being able “to be her authentic self” wasn’t always easy but since moving to Dublin and later to Dunshaughlin finally found the courage to become Cara. She added:
“It was tough because I came from a small village that if you are any way different you just didn’t fit in at all.
“I want to go into my next quarter of life being full female, I have saved most of the money myself this is just the last little bit of help that I need.”
Born male Cara describes what it was like realising she was always meant to be female. She said:
“I thought I was gay when I was eleven then the older I got I realised I wasn’t gay that I was actually female, it just clicked when I was about 15.
“Then I moved to Dublin at 17 and it changed my life.
“It just started sinking in that I was more female than I was male and I started looking into it and then I met a trans lady in Dublin and she helped explain it more to me and I knew then that was how I felt and that was who I was.
“I went to my doctor at 17 to get on the waiting list at the National at St. Colmcille’s Hospital, Loughlinstown which took under two years to get my first appointment.
“After that you are sent to a therapist and they decide if you are emotionally ready to start your hormones and I started taking hormones when I was 19.
“I was nervous and it was scary because I grew up in such a small village and when I moved to Dublin, I didn’t know how people were going to react.
“I’m an extremely confident person now, if people stare, let them stare, it doesn’t bother me but for a while I was very nervous and it was very scary.”
The Dunshaughlin woman remembers a poignant time in her life when someone special to her allowed her to be herself. She added:
“I was a dance for 19 years and my dance teacher in Attitude Stage School in Athlone used to go into the costume room and wear the girl’s costumes and just sit there.
“She just let me be me and do my thing.”
“It is tough being transgender in Ireland because we don’t have as many resources as the rest of the world, the waiting lists are ridiculous and we are excessively charged here for the hormones, in some countries it is free but we have to pay for everything here.
“I’ve been saving for a while but of course between the cost of living, my hormones and everything else it seems to be taking forever and it’s just my absolute dream to be free from GP visits, blood tests, online consultations, monthly subscriptions to online chemists/ doctors, prescriptions and hormones the list goes on as you could imagine.
“It’s hard and it is depressing but once I get my surgery I will be more at ease.”