change my name

I’ve got the name picked out and I have the paperwork. I have not filled it out yet. I’ve told my mom. I’ve told a few friends. I have not started using the name yet anywhere. I think it will help me to try it on more to get used to it and see if I really want to do it.

How I did it:
Step 1. Just start the process
Step 2. Create a new signature
Step 3. print out the name change documents and fill them out
Step 4. Have your forms notarized
Step 5. Go to the court house and file your documents
Step 6. Receive your final judgment in the mail! Yay!
Step 7.Go to like a million places and have your new name replace your old one (social security, birth certificate, passport, bills, license, etc…...)
Step 8. Order New Signs

I found a form on the web for just this purpose. I’ve got to have it notarised by a Notary, so I called up my solicitor and he’s going to do it for me tomorrow, for a bottle of wine!

I was at the job brokers today, and I’m absolutely thrilled that they kept calling me Emma! This is really helping me get used to it :)

It still all seems vaguely unreal – but perhaps this is just the easy part.

I’m finding it a little tricky adjusting to using my new name!

A week after telling my GP I got a new medical card in the post! Then I got a letter from the health authority asking if I want to change the rest of my details, I assume this means so I can get invited for breast exams and cervical smears. I’ve put that on the back boiler as not urgent at this time, and I shall consult with my doctors about what I should do.

So far things are going well with no negative feedback, and more importantly since I’m now stepping over the line of androgyny, I seem to be getting less second glances in public than I do in ‘boy’ mode. I’m also experiencing the same levels of anxiety whenever I do go out, but that is improving the more I do.

So with the NHS now having my new name, I’ve been putting off calling up for my repeat prescription, and I also need a new sick line. The last thing I wanted was to have to explain who I was, and I’m also worried about what I sound like. But no, it turns out the last thing I want is to come of my medication, the citalopram has been working wonders for me, and I really didn’t know how sick I was. So anyway, that’s sorted out now – of course they have changed my name so I have to use it now! duh – funny how I can reason about stuff when it’s not number one on my priority list, but I guess it’s an improvement.

I think I’ll have to go into town and get accosted by charity fundraisers for a few weeks to get used to giving my new name to strangers.

Oh and another thing, I need to practice a new signature as well!

I’m actually called Caitlin Rose Small but i want to change my name to Effy Izabelle Ceyington. I don’t think the law will let me because i’m only 13. Everytime i have met some-one new i have given them my wanted name but i keep forgetting to answer them when they call me effy. If anyone can help please do. I hate my name but love the other one. Thank you. xxx

I got married early March 2008 but just changed my name at the end of October 2009. I really liked my name. It flowed well, it was easy to sign, my degree has my maiden name, and, most of all, it is my daddy’s name. My husband was really understanding of my reluctance at first and I promised him I would change it before our first child was born, which is still a little time from now, but he started to make little comments that made me think it bothered him that we didn’t have the same name. We just bought a house together and I have to change my address on everything so I figured now was the perfect time. I am officially Mrs. H. Well, Dr. H. really but the Mrs. stated the point better.

The silence of friends.

Since I’m on income and support allowance I’m getting some help to find a job, I met my adviser today and we agreed it would be better to use my new name from the start. So I filled my first ‘official’ form in as Emma today. I had to go back through it to change my signature in various places afterwards. This is going to take a bit of getting used to!

It’s still largely unofficial, so I think I need to get that sorted out next. let me see: Counselor, GP, Jobsearch people, some friends – all told. Shrink, DWP, Inland Revenue, Council tax, banks, utilities, driving license, passport ugh I think this list is never ending… still to do. I need the statutary declaration and doctors letter for most of these though. The stuff to do with getting a job is most important, hopefully things will go a lot smoother if I’ve got everything in place before then.

I’m planning on officially changing my name to Emma over the next couple of months.

Apart from it just being more practical having a female name, and the fact that I’ve already procrastinated over it for far too long, It seems that I’ll need some official paperwork to change my name and gender with the Department of Work and Pensions and Inland Revenue, as well as my passport – although that’s not my biggest priority just now.

There’s not too much to it. I’ll need a noterised change of name letter saying that I’m forever and irrevocably renouncing my former (male) name – which might be a problem if I don’t carry through with this ;) and some kind of letter from the shrink or possibly another doctor? I don’t know if he’ll do this – but as it’s going to be difficult to actually get a job as a woman if I’ve not changed my name properly I think he’d better. In any case I’ll need the noterised form first so then it will be too late. I’m sure it will all work out.

Tomorrow I should be getting an appointment with someone who is going to help me look for work and I think it will be better to start off as I mean to go on, so hopefully it’ll be only one or two more trips to the jobcenter in guy mode.

I’m thinking of Louise for a middle name.

Mark and I have to get fingerprinted and then send the cards that we will receive from the police out to CBI (Colorado Bureau of Investigation) and the FBI for crimial checks. Then we’ll have to wait for the checks to come back before we can proceed with anything else. It can take 12-18 weeks for the criminal check to come back from the FBI. What a pain, but I know it will be worth it to have our new family name!