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Scene 1
Tina Smith, a 13 year old biological female, is sitting across from her parents at their kitchen table.
Tina: “I have been waiting a few years to tell both of you this, and I can’t hold it in any longer. I was born in the wrong body, and I want to transition to the body and identity I know I am supposed to have.”
Both of Tina’s parents are silent, with their mouths agape, and for a moment, Tina thinks they are going to call her crazy, and race her to an emergency room psychiatric ward.
Tina: “I knew it! I never should have told you!”
Tina’s Mom: “Honey, we would never think you have a mental issue.”
Tina’s Dad: “I am so happy that you felt comfortable sharing this with us. We are here for you and will do all we can to help you transition to the body you should have been born with.”
Tina bursts out crying as she runs around the kitchen table and group-hugs them.
With tears flowing down her cheeks and over her mouth, Tina says.
Tina: “Thank you thank you thank you.. I love both of you so much. You have made me so happy and now I am 100% certain that God made a mistake putting me in this body.”
Scene 2
8 months have passed since the breakfast table reveal. We find ourselves in Tina’s psychiatrist's office.
Tina and her parents are present.
Psychiatrist: “Hello Tina. I did not tell you last week, but today is the most important day. That is why I asked your parents to sit in on our session. I hold in my hand my official letter stating that you are mentally ready to go through with your transition surgery.
Remember, there are many ignorant people who will tell you that you have a mental illness called body dysmorphic disorder. They will tell you that you were born with all of the body parts that you were supposed to have. Many will tell you that at 13, you are much too young to have a surgery that cannot be reversed. Trust me, as your psychiatrist, none of these things are true.”
Scene 3
Eight weeks after the final psychiatrist session.
School Board planning & budget meeting.
Board of Ed President: “Tina, Mr. Smith and Ms. Klein-Smith, on behalf of the entire Board of Education, I have to express our sincere respect for your bravery and confidence. You are truly an example to all of us.
We are here to let you know that we have approved all of the modifications in the high school where Tina will be attending in September. The total cost is $750,000. If you want to see the full details of the spending within that budget, it is in the handouts you found on your seats when you arrived. I assure you, it includes all of the requests your attorney made. Construction has already started at the high school. We will try to get as much of it done by your first day of fresh-person year. When is your surgery?”
Tina: “Over Christmas Break.”
With that, there is a standing ovation by everyone in attendance. Tina is beaming at all of the attention she is getting and has been getting since her big reveal at her kitchen table.
Scene 4
It is now Christmas Break.
We find ourselves in Pre-Op at the Hospital For Transition Surgery. Tina is on a gurney, flanked by her parents. Her mom is holding her right hand and her dad her left.
Tina: “Mom and Dad. You have made this journey so simple for me. If you had expressed any doubt, at any time, I would not be here right now, with my surgeon in the operating room waiting to transform my body to the one I know I was supposed to be born with. I love both of you so much. In just a few hours I will be the Tina God intended.”
Tina’s parents each drop the daughter’s hand they are holding and then she is rolled through the operating room’s super-wide automatic doors where her transition surgery team awaits.
Scene 5
Post-op, Tina spends two nights in the hospital and then she is cleared to leave. Her parents go downstairs to pull the car up to the exit.
As is usually the case with post-op patients, Tina will be taken downstairs in a wheelchair, so a nurse could make sure she is safely seated in her parents’ vehicle.
Her parents pull up to the exit and sit there unblinking at the automatic exit doors in front of them.
Scene 6
Then there is a loud SWOOOSSSSHHHH! as the doors part.
Tina is in the wheelchair, a biological male nurse behind her.
And there is their Tina, now with the body and identity God meant for her to have.
Scene 7
Her legs are gone.
Her “Double Amputee” transition surgery was a complete success.
