AIDAN SILVA: I think it’s very hard to define what a man is. It’s more about the attitude and the presence of the
person versus what’s between their legs. I think you are who you feel.
AIDAN SILVA: Definitely love plants.
Something therapeutic about watering every day and watching them grow.
AIDAN SILVA: It’s actually an arrangement I did myself. Most of these are arrangements I did myself.
AIDAN SILVA: This is Prismo Horatio. We named him after a character from Adventure Time and the character
from CSI Miami, Horatio Caine because he is a ginger cat.
I was 23 when I came out and I used YouTube as the platform to let everyone know at the same time like,
‘Hey this is what’s going on with me, this is what I plan to do.’ Everyone was very supportive, everyone understood.
AIDAN SILVA: It finally clicked. I knew was a transexual or transgender is the new preferred term nowadays.
I knew what I was but that scared the hell out of me.
AIDAN SILVA: I feel like I have no association with myself in that picture, you know. When I look at it, it’s like
a disconnect. It’s like I can’t even believe that was me.
AIDAN SILVA: The moment I fell in love with Heather was actually my first day at work at Victoria’s Secret.
HEATHER SILVA: He always needed extra training. It was simplest things to do and he just couldn't figure it out.
Your flirting was very schoolyard. It was if we were five, he would be kicking sand at me in the playground.
AIDAN SILVA: And I just asked her point-blank would you, would you still want to be with me if I was a man?
She needed to take her time to process what I was telling her.
HEATHER SILVA: Yes, if I would still love him and I feel so bad saying it now, but I actually wasn’t sure at the
time and did a lot of thinking and my own research.
HEATHER SILVA: Finally I’m just like, ‘How stupid are you? This is a person you fell in love with like, are you
really willing to lose the person you really love?’
AIDAN SILVA: And she pretty much said you know,
'I love you and I accept you and let’s do this, you know. I am on board let’s do this together.'
AIDAN SILVA: So every week, typically on Thursdays, I’ll come in and grab my stealth bag and I’ll prepare my
syringe. I get a shot of testosterone once a week, every week, and I’ll be on testosterone for the rest of my life.
AIDAN SILVA: One of the first changes I noticed was my voice dropping and my
Adam’s apple becoming more visible.
HEATHER SILVA: Not even just physical, he was hungry all the time.
HEATHER SILVA: And you were happy. AIDAN SILVA: Yeah, I was really happy.
HEATHER SILVA: A lot happier.
AIDAN SILVA: My body triggered dysphorias for me, which made me very depressed and suicidal. And once I
started seeing the changes that I wanted to see and I started being able to look in the mirror and associate
who I was seeing in the mirror with myself for the first time, I started becoming happier and everything
just started changing. It’s amazing what just one little drug can do.
For my top surgery, that was my first ever surgery of any type and it was a pretty intense surgery. I mean,
you go in there and remove something.
AIDAN SILVA: When I woke up and realised it was done, it was like, literally like, the weight had literally been lifted
from my chest and it’s amazing. I feel like the eyes are the only thing about my face that stayed the same.
And my scars have healed. I don’t know, amazing in my opinion.
AIDAN SILVA: People listen when I speak now, as before speaking, they were, they would either not take me
seriously or they wouldn’t listen at all. There’s a certain type of respect that comes with the man that I didn't
realise before until I transitioned and I actually got to experience it for myself.
HEATHER SILVA: Sad but true. AIDAN SILVA: Yeah.
HEATHER SILVA: I don’t find it too different being in a relationship with a man rather than a woman.
HEATHER SILVA: I like to believe that I am attracted to people based off of other aspects other than gender.
I guess it’s something that you feel and you know.
HEATHER SILVA: Aidan pre-T versus Aidan now, it’s not too different other than there is now a little bit of beard
hair in the sink.
HEATHER SILVA: I think he is pretty hot either way. I got lucky either way, I think.
AIDAN SILVA: Heather has supported me in all aspects of this transition from giving me my shot to going with
me to every single appointment that’s trans-related. I don’t believe I would have been able to be as far in this
transition if it wasn’t for Heather.
HEATHER SILVA: I have become your biggest cheerleader, the greatest defender, just trying to protect
him as much as I can and make sure that nothing is going to get in your way when it comes to transitioning
and whatever he needs to do in the future to make himself more comfortable.
If there were more surgeries or anything I mean, I’m totally onboard.
HEATHER SILVA: I would like to say that we have transitioned together in a way.
So I am very positive for the both of us.
AIDAN SILVA: We have discussed children in the future. HEATHER SILVA: Possibly near.
AIDAN SILVA: Possibly near future, yeah. It’s exciting, another adventure.
HEATHER SILVA: At least two. AIDAN SILVA: At least two.
HEATHER SILVA: If we can afford more. But we definitely have the advantage of planning, no surprises.
AIDAN SILVA: Yes, we can plan.