Meet Eden Estrada, who started working as a male model in Vogue at the age of 16. But soon, at the age of 18, she realized that she isn’t in the right body. She accepted her true self and started her transition from male to female from top to bottom and gets completed at age of 21.
“My modeling career started before I transitioned – I was in Vogue when I was 16. It was really strange for me modeling before I transitioned because my body wasn’t fully there.”
Now that I’m doing it, I feel amazing. To medically transition was basically the most fulfilling thing I’ve ever done in my life because, to see your body, your mind and your soul finally change and be the person you wanted to be there’s no way to describe that. A year ago, I stayed true to myself and let him know, who I was, what I was and the type of person that I am, and at the end of the day I am a woman no matter what anyone wants to call me,” says Eden.
Eden in from a conservative home background, and at first her family wasn’t supportive at all, but now they fully support her decision. “My family, at first, wasn’t supportive at all. It was unfortunate but I gave it time and things are much different now,” she says.
Eden’s mum Lilly Barraza said: “For me at the beginning, it was a shock. I felt very strange but at the same time I’m now pleased because I see that she is happy and if she is happy, then I am happy too.”
Eden’s boyfriend, Malik McBride when came to know about her transitions, at first it was a twisted one for him. But now they are happier than ever. “I had found out Eden was trans right before our second date, my initial reaction was ‘wait, what?! Mainly because I already had a twisted idea of people who are trans. Probably for about 15 minutes, I was like ‘wait, whoa’, but after a while I was fine. I feel like overall, I have the perfect package. I could not ask for a better woman in my life,” Malik added.
She has modeled for Bellami hair products and walked for Marco Marco’s shows but she wants to be a social media influencer and YouTuber. She keeps sharing her experiences on her YouTube channel and Instagram as ‘Eden The Doll’. She adds, “The scariest part of my transition was – I have to be honest – nothing at this point. I mean I’m not afraid of anything. It was my body and my life. Once I turned 18 I basically made it my mission to accomplish every dream I ever had. So I was not afraid of anything. I wanted the pain, I wanted the surgeries, I wanted everything, I wanted the hate. I wanted it all to come because I know that was the price I had to pay to be the woman I am.”
“I’m not just transgender, I’m a normal 21-year-old woman who has to deal with a lot of theory stuff. There’s a lot to me than being trans. I think about where my life was a year ago and I truly am so, so grateful. I just really want to be a good role model for people, that’s the entire reason I made my YouTube channel was to hopefully change someone’s life, and if I can do it, you can do it too.”
