Okay so yesterday I drew this picture and long story short, my mum ended up asking me is I was trans*. I freaked out and said no, and she said, "Oh, good. Because you have to take hormones and have surgery and I don't want that for you." So I really want to ask, do you absolutely NEED hormones and surgery? I am going to get it eventually, but when I come out, I want to comfort my mum so she doesn't go against me! Do you guys have anything to say on this matter?
Your mom might have just meant that in the sense of not wanting you to have to go through hormones and surgery, not in the sense of her not wanting you to do them. In other words, I think she was more worried about you needing to go through something difficult than she was about you choosing to do it, the way a lot of parents of gay kids might tell their kids they don't want them to come out because they're worried about people reacting badly. That said, you don't have to do anything just because you identify as trans*. If you want to be acknowledged as a man, that's enough to "qualify" you as FtM. Hormones and surgery aren't an "entrance requirement"; if you just want to dress like a man and maybe wear a binder, that's totally okay.
I think that the process of altering one's physical sexual characteristics is what defines a person as being transsexual but it does not define them as either a man or woman (or any other gender). You don't need testosterone to be a man, but you do need testosterone to physically alter your sexual characteristics. If you don't feel a need for physical transition and would prefer sticking to just social transition, then do what makes you happy
