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Second Chance | Sex Change

Terry Cummings, who lives in Montclair, N.J., is a lawyer with a firm in New York City. After a heart problem in 2006, she decided to face her lifelong gender dysphoria, a psychological discomfort with her sex, and make the change from male to female.

She said that she considers the sex-reassignment surgery essentially a rite of passage, but she said it would not change her life. It will, however, have a great impact on her feeling of wholeness and her mental well-being.

"I was more scared than excited to go through that initial change," she said. "But as time wore on, the joy of living a truthful life instead of living a lie really hit me harder and harder, and now I look forward to getting up in the morning every single day and experiencing life in femaleness."

Please See the Full Article and Included Video at NYTimes.com