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Hi SecretlySuffering,
So sorry you're going through this. He seems to have gone through a few stages of understanding himself and I wouldn't be surprised if he'll go through more. Sounds like you have a pretty clear idea of what you do and don't want. We're here for you.
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Thank you Phoenix for the response. I have just tried to cope alone. It has been unbearable. Fortunately, I brought myself to confide in a friend and I'm gradually processing my thoughts. Pregnancy has its own ups and downs so my emotions aren't quite as stable as usual. But in addition to my husband coming out lesbian, he has made an extra effort to tell me how much he loves me and is very verbally affectionate. This is making matters much worse for me, because I just want it to end. I just want to co-parent for now, I already sleep in a different room. Then deal with separation after the baby is born. I haven't discussed with him because I'm sure I will then have to immediately deal with lawyers and court, and I simply can't handle that now. I am just trying to focus on having a healthy baby, taking my prenatals, performing at my job and being a good mom to my son. I don't want to deal with anything else, but I know I will have to during maternity leave. Thank you for the support. I've never needed more help in my life. I'm not a big into counseling, but I did try. Two different ones in fact. One told me I wasn't empathetic enough to my husbands needs. The other one told me that my husband is just on the spectrum. It's no different than a woman wanting to wear men's boxers to bed or look sexy in a mans tie. To me the difference is that the woman is turning on the guy, in my case I'm repelled and terrified.
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And....sry to continue, but I crave a man. More than I ever have in my life. I just want a man, male parts and male brain. I would like a man with hair on his legs, simple things. Nothing crazy. I just regret what my son will go thru, but I can only hope that he will do ok. I am committed to a good co-parent relationship. My husband is very nice and a great dad, great helper. It's just this lesbian lifestyle has consumed everything. It's not all about sex. It's about stability and safety and security. Yesterday he was heterosexual, today he is lesbian. What will tomorrow hold? I just want to have a normal guy I can grow old with. Just a normal man with hair on his legs and an interest in heterosexual sex. I don't want to compete with my husband. My current spouse dresses up in my clothes and takes long baths with oils and shaves everything to be sexy. He tells me it's to be sexy, but to whom? Himself? It totally blows my mind.
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And..sry again, my husband has also threatened to take his own life if I tell anyone. That it is our secret. But I wish I knew nothing about this secret and he tells me that he thought that I loved him and could tell me anything...anyway, it's so freakin messed up!
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You are right.. it is completely messed up.
You are normal and every feeling and emotion you are having right now is normal. In fact, given your situation I would say that you are doing extremely well and thinking very clearly. You have every right to desire a real man and those traits that men have.. both physical and mental. That is how you are wired.. you are heterosexual. If your husband demands that you accept him as a women, then it is only fair that he accept that you don't want to be with a woman. It's the same line of thinking. He is claiming to be wired as a woman and expecting you to be ok with that. Well guess what.. you are wired as a hetero woman (authentically) and as such you desire a male partner.. smelly armpits and everything..
I think it makes perfect sense to wait on lawyers and divorce and put that out of your mind for now. Your first priority should be the health of yourself and you babies.
What you mentioned from your councilors makes me very angry. It seems like both are trying to be compassionate toward your spouse and neither seem to want to validate your feelings. That is utter garbage. You have every right to feel betrayed, angry, hurt, worried, etc.. If the councilor isn't helping focused on helping you, then you need to find a different councilor.
One piece of advice I would like to offer.. Have you told your Dr that you are under extreme stress? These levels of stress and shock can be very big health threats to yourself and your unborn baby. I'm not a Dr of course, but I would think that there might be some meds that could be taken to help? Also some extra monitoring of your blood pressure.. Please know that what you are going through is real stress.. similar in effect to PTSD and other mental issues experienced by soldiers or victims of other extreme situations.
Your husband is being narcissistic by telling you that you can't tell his secret or he will kill himself. No abuser should expect their victim to keep a secret at their own detriment. You don't owe him that. You need to be healthy and help yourself for the sake of your own body and your children. Do you have a parent or sibling close to you? Any best friends you trust completely? You need a shoulder to cry on and someone to help you. I'm not telling you to maliciously spread the news to everyone in the world in order to hurt him.. I'm just saying that you have every right to pick a few close supporters who can help you through this storm. Don't suffer alone for his sake.. that isn't fair!
You will get through this and you will have a wonderful life. Your kids are young and will roll with it and they will be just fine. The younger they are, the easier it is.
Keep sharing.. keep letting it out.
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Dear Secretly,
After reading Katie's update this morning, and now your post, I was so consumed with anger I had to go out to the garden and weed because I needed to rip something out by the roots!
What supreme selfishness your husband is exhibiting: suddenly deciding he is a woman and is entitled to your support--including your clothes!--and your silence, while you continue to parent while also pregnant. Add to that his feeling that his threat of suicide, and you get another layer of entitlement: as if he feels he's entitled to his entitlement; the layers of selfishness compound like some kind of perverse interest.
First things first:
He is using that threat of suicide to manipulate you into doing what he wants. Call him on that. His suicide threat should be countered with your telling him he needs to see a therapist. And don't feel pressured or guilty: that's what he wants you to feel so you will do what he wants. But it's not your job to keep him from killing himself, and indeed, you can't. The decision to commit suicide is always made by the person who commits it.
Tell your husband that your clothes are off limits to him, and set limits on where and when he wears his girl garb. You live in the house and it's your household as well; he doesn't unilaterally get to take it over or make the decisions. If you don't want your child to see him all dolled up, tell him to confine his experiments to the room where he sleeps or times you and the children are not at home. If you don't set clear limits, he will push the boundary farther and farther.
Get another counselor or therapist, one who is concerned to support you, not to hector you into support and acceptance. They ARE out there. You can ask if they have experience with autogynephilia (men who derive sexual pleasure from feminizing themselves).
I know you want to just get through the pregnancy and with a healthy baby but please think about getting out of the situation if you possibly can. Because the amount of stress you're under can have consequences for the health of your fetus, your baby later in life, and for the course of your pregnancy, at the very least you need to confide in your OB/GYN, so your doctor can monitor you and help you with coping strategies.
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Thank you Phoenix for your support. It is very helpful. I agree, stress during pregnancy is horrible. I've been talking to an old friend that just randomly located me right when my husband became a lesbian. It has helped greatly, but I won't lie, my brain is spinning. My spouse kept reassuring me that he was a man and I kept accepting little things one by one. Sex became impossible. When I now look at him, all I see is a woman. I told him that I didn't appreciate him deciding to come out while I am pregnant, that I can't possibly be expected to process this. He actually brought the whole thing up because he thought I should contact one of his friends wife's to provide her comfort since she is in the same situation. I told him I'm in no condition to counsel people, that I am just focusing on my health. We haven't really spoken since. We are just co-parenting our son and talking about business, bill paying etc. I prefer not to delve into the emotional with him right now. I figure I will have time for that after my child is born. I am trying to relax, but I will admit that this incredibly difficult. Trying to focus on breathing..,
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SecretlySuffering wrote:
And..sry again, my husband has also threatened to take his own life if I tell anyone. That it is our secret.
This is a really low blow. Huge Narcissist red flag. Please go see a psychologist who can help you deal with a person like this. To my recollection, the best way to deal with any threat/mention of suicide is to walk away and call 911. Let them understand you take that $#it seriously.
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It's not uncommon that autogyn men "come out" during a pregnancy. See top commentary in the following:
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Wow, thanks OutOfHisCloset. I had no idea about the sexual disorder description. It is exactly him. He doesn't need me to have sex and in fact he can't even get arosed by me. Which is perfectly fine with me now, but had been tough over the past year since I've never had that experience. I have always tried to stay in shape, working out frequently, of all my adult years I've never had disinterest from men. So this past year has been shocking for me. I know it's not me, but believe me, I have blamed myself.
I have drawn the line with him on my stuff and he was angry with me, saying I should share with him. He was upset that he had to buy his own stuff from amazon. We now get weekly amazon packages to support his habits. I also told him he is never to do this when are children are home and he is in agreement. He hides out in our walkin closet, dresses up and has a suitcase of vibrators and other toys. I don't ask and I don't want to know. It would be great to get him out of the house, which I would do immediately if I were not pregnant. But I fear that starting that discussion now will result in a huge court battle which I cannot handle. So we currently are nice to each other and stay in our own separate areas.
I have no desire to spread ugly information about my husband to hurt him. He is the father of my kids and I don't want people to know any details. So this site is really helpful as are the two friends I have confided in. Thank you again