My name is Dina Rossi.

I am 29 years old.

I am Imperfectly Perfect.

My story begins as most. I was born in May 1982 in Waterbury CT. I learned that during my mothers pregnancy her hormone levels fluctuated and my gender was determined at a later stage then most. I could have easily been born a female due to the fluctuation, I was born male, and with a Hydrocele. A Hydrocele is an accumulation of fluid in any sac-like cavity or duct, most commonly found in the scrotum. I am told this is a common procedure and caused by different reasons. Mine was due to the late injection of a large amount of testosterone that possibly changed my gender, causing one testicle to be larger then the other. This information was not given to me until my mid 20's, and could have saved me a lot of time and frustration.

As long as I can remember I felt out of place and like I didn’t belong, I felt like I was in a different person's body and it just didn’t feel right. One of my earliest memories of feeling this was one day during the summer when I was 5 years old. I recall asking my mother what it was like to be a girl? She didn’t have a response; I then said "Will I ever be a girl?" And she said no you are a boy and its normal to wonder about other people. From then on I never mentioned these feelings again. Through out my pre teen's I would look at the girls in my classes as they developed and would get jealous of the things they got to do and the clothes they wore, getting hair done and starting to use makeup. I had mixed emotions of being sad because I felt like I should be like them, and also started to develop hate and anger because I was not them and during this time , pre internet, in the early 1990's I thought that I was going to be stuck this way. At this time I would occasionally sneak in to my sisters room and look at her makeup and clothes and would think how I would look if i was a girl and what my life might be like.

In the Mid 90's as AOL and other online providers came into existence I was able to do some research and figure out why I felt the way I did. Why I was in the wrong body? The summer of 1996 I discovered I was Transgendered and in my mind I identified myself as a Transsexual; a woman trapped in a man's body. But what was I to do about this? I come from a working class "old school" Italian family where men where men, and the woman cooked and cleaned and got married to a nice Italian boy. I remember at this time I would go to sleep every night crying and praying to God that when I wake up in the morning I would be a girl. I would say " God please I promise I will be good, God I promise I will go to church everyday if you can just make me into a girl tonight!!" This obviously didn’t work out for me.

As high school went on I was playing football and was one of the "jocks" I drove a nice car, I "liked girls", that’s what I told people anyway, and had a couple of girlfriends. While being a transsexual was always in my mind I just thought that my family will never accept this and I will be disowned and kicked out of my house, so I had a plan I would just keep it a secret and maybe these feeling I had of wanting to me a woman, and being with men would just go away!!

So high school came and went I had a steady girlfriend who I never slept with, for obvious reasons. I was working part time for a medical supply company in Connecticut and attending the University of Connecticut at night. I started moving up in the company and by 2002 at age 20 I was the operations manager for a 4 million dollar IV and medical supply company making over 40k per year, living on my own and having what people thought was a good life. All the while I was miserable inside and I would try to over compensate by buying expensive "toys" that I couldn’t afford, trying to date the prettiest woman I would find to impress my family and friends, even though secretly I wanted to be them; not date them. This continued for the next 3 years.

I changed jobs over the course of the next 3-4 years, each time moving up in position and pay grade. By this time I was the Area manager of Sale and Operations for a publicly traded home Medical supply and I was living in the the NYC area with a roommate. I then met a girl from Long Island and I told her I might be Bi sexual (this was a huge step for me by the way). Long story short we started dating. I liked hanging around her because she was in "the scene" and always with Gay people and Transsexual's. I said wow look at this, this is what I have always wanted to be, a woman and here they are Transsexual being accepted by "normal" people and they look happy and loving life. At that point it all became possible.

The relationship ended and I started to make some friends that were Transsexual's and they helped get me on Hormone therapy, and offered when I was ready, “to take me for surgeries and everything" I was new to this I didn’t realize but at the time I was their little joke!! I didn’t know how to dress and look feminine or do my makeup right or even wear a proper wig. So they would take me out and we would hang out with all the "Tranny's" and I though they were my friend but little did I know I was a joke to them just an outsider that would never be like them because I was still going to work as a man, and not steady on hormones and I didn’t know how to dress or conduct myself. I quickly started to get scared that I couldn’t lead two lives and at the end of 2008 I stopped hormones and hanging out with those people, and went back to building my career and my so called "normal" life. At this time I was very depressed and struggled with Drugs and Alcohol for close to 18 months, this was to drown the sorrow and pain I felt that I would be miserable the rest of my life and I just didn’t have the courage or strength to be the person I was meant to be..

In the winter of 2010 I was on Facebook of all places I had just gotten home from a night of partying in NYC with old friends, and I saw a post by someone I had known of from the old scene, but never met. We will call her Francescia. I read her post and it was about being open and honest and true to your self and also about getting off drugs and alcohol. I saw her online quickly messaged her and let her know my situation. We struck up a conversation and I let her know that I was a gay and only interested in friendship, again baby steps. Within a month I was flying down to Florida to visit her and she helped open the door for me to get sober and be honest with myself. She soon moved back to NY and we were like two peas in a pod, best friends!! We were out one day and there was a group of transsexual's and Francecia said "wow those girls are great, they look so fun and they are gorgeous plus it takes a lot of courage to do what they do I respect that." I then brought up that I was once on hormones, she gave me a funny look. I told her my story and that I always felt like a woman in a mans body and I want to be a transsexual!! She gave me a big hug and I started to cry. She said she supported me 100% and would be there for me..

The next week I found an old contact of mine and called her. This person helps people with hormone therapy and silicone work and young transsexual's look and feel there best. I went to see her the next day, received my first hormone shot and I was off to the races. I was still working as a man but started to change my body, my face and my emotional mid state. I was promoted to Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the Pharmacutical Company I was working for at this time so now I had the money to look the way I wanted. Francehscia convinced me to go see a doctor for the rest of my hormone therapy which I did, and that helped to accelerate the process. I had also gotten some "work done" as of this day Aug 2011 I have received lip injections 2x, cheek injections, hip and butt injections 2x and laser hair removal. I am on the road to my dream and it has been over 13 months of hormone therapy I am living my life full time as Dina Rossi, and I look the way I feel inside and I have never been happier in my life and I feel that each day is a gift and I also like to help young transsexuals that our starting out and feel they can not live their dream because I am living proof that they can!!

Now you may ask what about my parents and big Italian old school family. Well they are not as thrilled as I am about "Dina" but I can tell you that they are coming around and the see how well In life I am doing they will learn to love Dina as there daughter and I still have the support of my best friend Franchessca, she is my rock and with out her in my life I would be lost. Recently I have been in contact with some old friends that new me 4-5 years ago as the "nice guy " and they are more then supportive and I thank them everyday for being like a family and support unit...

When I found Imperfectly Perfect and read about what it is that they do, I knew I had to share my story! If only Imperfectly Perfect or a similar organization was around when I was a young child, my life would have been extremely different. I would have been able to come out and transition many years ago. I would not have felt so alone and that there was something wrong with me. I cried myself to sleep many nights because of this. It’s a terrible feeling to think you will never be happy and that you’ll be alone in this forever.

I was lucky to find a supportive group of people that have helped me feel that I am "normal" and a beautiful woman inside and out!! I am so proud to be apart of Imperfectly Perfect, and hopefully be able to be that strong support system, for someone else who is in the position that I was in many years ago. People need support in life, and I’m excited to be part of this amazing organization, which is going to help so many people. I have witnessed first hand that the correct support in life can make all the difference.

I speak for those everywhere, by saying that we are, Imperfectly Perfect.