"My Name is Philippa: A Transgender Memoir of Love, Understanding and Transformation. Experience a heart-changing journey with Philippa Ryder as she transitions from male to female with the support of her family.
This powerful and moving story explores the physical and emotional process of transitioning and provides answers to common questions about being transgender - a must-read for anyone seeking to understand and support the global movement towards gender freedom and empowerment."
"A prominent LGBTQ+ activist, a passionate, inclusive feminist and human rights speaker. Philippa is COO of Under the Rainbow, a workplace wellness, diversity and inclusion company that provides information and support for people to build the confidence to be themselves by educating, informing and encouraging companies and state bodies to embrace Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging."
In 2023, I interviewed Philippa and asked her about the inspirations for this book: " I definitely felt that I had a story to tell, and one that could help others. I had GRS in 2011 and after I recovered from the operation an old school friend and I went to dinner. He persuaded me to start putting words down and once I started I found I enjoyed it. It was cathartic, a way to comprehend and come to terms with what I had undergone. I had no structure in mind short of putting the story down chronologically and initially wrote 250,000 words. I was lucky to get an independent publisher to take the book but they were limited in the size of the book they could publish so we cut the manuscript down to 87,000 words. If the original manuscript was ever to be published I think I’d end up having to fight libel cases in court!"
"As for the aspects of the book that might help others I think there are some dark passages in it but it also shows that if you believe in yourself you can achieve your desire. I don’t hold back on certain aspects and regularly refer to arguments that my wife and I had over my transition, some of which could have led to divorce. One of the most difficult areas was my emerging bisexuality and the passages around that could help other trans women. But the overriding message in the book is that of love, which I was grateful to get from my wife, daughter, some family and friends. Not everyone supported or even attempted to understand what I was going through but my story shows that you might lose people on your journey but you will gain more, and more importantly you can be your true self."
Available via Amazon
Photos via Instagram and Heroines of My Life.
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