Jonni Phillips is a pre-operative transperson, and has never contemplated having sex reassignment surgery (SRS) - the surgical procedure by which a person's sexual organs are altered to resemble that of the other sex. Jonni was born as John in St. Louis and lived the first 40 years of her life as an unhappy, confused person. Her father was a Korean War Vet and her mother a stay-at-home mom. She has two sisters. Today she is a very happily married to a wonderful woman (Sara) and has two daughters, one from a previous marriage and one with Sara.

John seemed to be a regular, normal boy. However, he realized that something seemed wrong from a young age. As he got older and gender began to take a more active role in directing his life he localized the problem to a conflict between his physical reality as a boy and his developing self-identify that was far more in line with girls.

He was an excellent a student, and there were no external indicators of the confusion growing within. As he reached puberty he realized that sharing his secret would undermine the respect and pride that his parents had for him. So, he buried it and embarked upon a life that would yield no traces of his situation.

Through his teen years John excelled an athlete, playing baseball and basketball. John graduated from a major mid-western University with an MBA, got married, settled in Chicago and began a successful career as a consultant to Fortune 500 Company. After less than a year of marriage his wife gave birth to Katie. He seemed to have achieved a level of success but the nagging burden of hiding his “secret” continued to come and go, and he dealt with it as best he could. But eventually Jonni’s journey necessarily involved disclosing her situation to family, friends, and workplace peers, and, it involved the devastating revelation to her wife and the subsequent collapse of their marriage. Jonni started over in Virginia where he met Sara. Jonni decided to confront his/her gender issues rather than to hide them, or run from them and brought Sara into his confidence. Sara was intrigued and sympathized with him. They married and two years later Rose was born.

Looking feminine is extremely important to Jonni and her extraordinary physical transformation began in 1992. One day half jokingly, Sara showed Jonni a magazine ad, "Breast Enhancement Herbal Supplement. No Expensive Breast Augmentation Surgery! Pure and Natural Formula! No Side Effects! Product Shipped Discreetly to your Door! No Exercises! No Chemicals! Visible Results within Weeks" and encouraged Jonni to give it a try.

Surprisingly the natural estrogen quickly began to alter his body, but eventually there were signs of hormonal imbalance, something quite common and dangerous if HRT is done without a doctor’s care. Jonni experienced rashes, hot flashes, night sweats, body aches, numbness and insomnia and needed help, Sara’s Ob-Gyn put Jonni on a different hormonal regimine and once again she enjoyed a healthy gender transition while maintaining a robust sex life and her intimate moments with Sara became even more satisfying than they had ever been before.

First impressions are often based just upon ones face. That which is first seen in an initial contact is frequently what defines a person. It establishes not only who you are, but often what sex you are as well. Jonni’s facial features have always been soft and somewhat feminine and she is fortunate not to possess a pronoused browridge; however Jonni does have a widely flared jawbone. She considered diminishing the angularity of her mandible to make her appear a more typical woman, but after spending hours looking in magazines at what a “masculine" mandible can do to the beauty of many women; while this shape may be more uncommon in the general female population, it is one of the components of exceptionally attractive women and so Jonni decided not to change it. Her trachea is more prominent than ideal, but there was too much danger of damaging the vocal cords for Jonni to be comfortable so she resigned herself to the fact that it would be one of those things that she would have to live with. Jonni hopes it doesn’t spoil her looks as a woman. She generally wears bangs or will comb her hair in a way such as to hide some of her forehead and rarely wears her hair back in a ponytail. As for facial feminizing surgery Jonni has had both her chin and nose narrowed slightly and some work around the eyes, while subtle, Jonni believes that the results have been really profound. Some say that she's now a strikingly beautiful woman, even without any makeup, and often they don’t believe that she’s not a genetic woman.

Presently, Jonni is working as a very Personal Assistant (a position with no fixed description) for Monica, Director-in-Charge (Dic) of a multi-million dollar woman's owned business. Their relationship is complicated, however, the opportunity to develop relationships with many other very high profile women is enormous. Jonni splits her time between living with Sara on their ranch in the Shenandoah Valley nestled between the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, or accompanies Monica at her "faux" adobe residence along the Agua Fria River in the tranquil Black Canyon desert near Phoenix, or with her in the corporate condo high above South Beach in the ever stimulating and exciting city of Miami awash in its sunlight-intensified natural colors.

She juggles work and home life and in her spare time enjoys home cooking, romantic country walks, horseback riding, and keeping herself fit by going to the gym at least 4 days a week. On weekends she can be found on the dance floor, enjoying herself - and sometimes even dancing!!!

After her transition Jonni did what many transsexuals dream of doing – moving someplace where nobody knew of her unique history to start fresh. However, she feels a nagging need for closure which eventually led to creating this web page.

Jonni is one of those rare persons who are able to live two different, distinct lives within one lifetime. She has experienced life on both sides of the gender line, and has gained unique insights and perspectives that continue to intrigue, fascinate, and to amuse. She has taken a deep look at whom and what she is, and has successfully freed her from the fear, guilt, and shame that had directed her life for so many years. In short, Jonni has finally become who she was meant to be.

Jonni