Digital Transgender Archive

Interview with Rachel Schroeder

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Rachel Schroeder identifies as trans was assigned male at birth. She grew up in Burnsville, Minnesota in a trailer park and worked on her grandparent’s farm. She experimented with crossdressing at a young age and was curious about her mom’s clothes. Her crossdressing went underground during high school but a couple of years into her marriage after high school, those feelings began to return. Her marriage ended after five years with two kids because of her gender identity. Her first ex-wife dragged Schroeder through the mud, ending with a court appointed psychiatrist evaluating her to be a fit parent. She fought for sole custody and won, however. Five years into her second marriage, she experimented with hormones and realized she wanted to transition. She also had another kid in her second marriage. She made the decision not to transition, however, since she didn’t want to face the consequences and risk her marriage. She took up marathon running and body building, full of rage, depression, and anxiety. She realized she wasn’t happy and began hormones again through underground channels. In 2014, she then began going to Family Tree in St. Paul, Minnesota after experiencing some concerning emotional and physical changes. Her second marriage ended when her ex-wife couldn’t accept Schroeder going through gender reassignment surgery and living full time as a woman. Schroeder also lost her parents, younger brother, and kids. She is close to her 11-year-old daughter, however, who accepts her unconditionally. Schroeder plans to get top and bottom surgery and has gone through laser hair removal. She belonged to City of Lakes Crossgender Community in the Twin Cities, Minnesota during the early 1990s. She is also part of the Minnesota Transgender Health Coalition. She has her own building maintenance company that is a full-service janitorial company.

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