Second Son: Transitioning Toward My Destiny, Love and Life

by Ryan K Sallans Ma, Ryan K Sallans Ma (Illustrator), Fred Schneider (Photographer)

Overview

Second Son is a unique lens on life and love, intimately exploring the transition experience of Ryan Sallans-born Kimberly Ann Sallans. Ride alongside Ryan's transition from a child to a body-obsessed young woman with an eating disorder; from female to male, daughter to son, and finally a beloved partner to a cherished fiance'. Ryan candidly shares his struggle to find love and acceptance; a struggle that transcends through every layer of society. He nearly died from an extreme case of anorexia as an insecure female college student. The only thing that saved him was his inner spirit begging for a chance to live. Second Son chronicles Ryan's battle with his family, his romantic partner, and his body. It is an unblinking focus on self-empowerment tracing Ryan's evolution into manhood as he underwent gender reassignment surgeries. It took twenty-nine years for Ryan to find himself. Second Son is an intimate and honest autobiography that will educate and empower anyone journeying to find their own destiny, love, and life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780989586825
Publisher:	Scout Publishing LLC
Publication date:	08/20/2013
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	242
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Ryan Sallans, born and raised in rural Nebraska, began his transition from female to male in 2005. He works as a public speaker, diversity trainer, consultant, publisher and author specializing in health care, campus inclusion, and workplace issues surrounding the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex and Asexual (LGBTQIA) community.

Today, he is most known as a national speaker who shares his transition journey, as well as his struggles with an eating disorder. His story is told with an intermixing of humor and intricate clinical details surrounding the transition process.

Ryan attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Anthropology, a Master of Arts degree in English and a Master of Arts degree in educational psychology.

To learn more, visit Ryan's website at: http://www.ryansallans.com.

Table of Contents

Prologue: Frequent Fliers, Frequent Questions vii

Part 1 Finding Identity: My Coming Out Story

Chapter 1 What Is a Man? 1

Chapter 2 My Origin Story 5

Chapter 3 Superman Versus My Mom 15

Chapter 4 My Wishing Spot 23

Chapter 5 My Life Among the Awkward Adolescents 31

Chapter 6 Letting Go of 40 39

Chapter 7 Resetting My Biological Clock 43

Chapter 8 The Incredible Shrinking Coed 51

Chapter 9 Sexless in the City 67

Chapter 10 Dashboard Confession 81

Chapter 11 My Family Comes Together…Sort of 85

Part 2 Finding Community: Glimpsing Reflections of Who I Am

Chapter 12 Finding My Soul in the Heartland 99

Chapter 13 My Second Origin Story 109

Chapter 14 A Weight Is Lifted from My Chest 113

Chapter 15 Bicep Envy 119

Chapter 16 Sharing a Beer, or Two, or Three 123

Chapter 17 Real Estate Rebel 127

Chapter 18 What Indiana Jones and I Share 129

Part 3 Finding Identity: Finding Myself

Chapter 19 A House Is Not a Home 135

Chapter 20 When Will I Be Complete? 149

Chapter 21 Penis Party, Anyone? 153

Chapter 22 Having a Ball in Belgrade 159

Chapter 23 I'm a Big Boy Now! 173

Chapter 24 The Rise of the Second Son 179

Chapter 25 I Left My Heart in Philadelphia 189

Chapter 26 Chasing and Catching the Girl of My Dreams 203

Chapter 27 Our Leap of Faith 215

Epilogue: Finding My Gemini 223

Afterword 225

Bibliography 227

About the Author 228

Acknowledgments 229