My Rebirth
by
John J. Dunphy
(Originally published in the August 2020 issue of Scifaikuest)
Humans who don’t identify with the gender they were assigned at birth are said to suffer from a malady known as gender dysphoria. The twenty-fourth century witnessed the creation of a term that describes the malady with which I struggled. That term is species dysphoria.
I never felt any real kinship with my own species on the planet where I was born. I looked like them but didn’t identify with them. My hearts and mind were totally unlike theirs. I was a stranger among my own kind. Or, at least, I thought they were my own kind.
Human colonists had established a settlement some time ago on my planet, which has an atmosphere remarkably similar to theirs. The settlement’s governing board always made it quite clear that we were welcome to visit at any time, but I never availed myself of this invitation until I was twenty years old as humans measure age. The moment I stepped through the portal. I knew I had finally found my own kind.
True, I looked nothing like these humans. By their standards of appearance, I was a monster — and vice versa.
I encounter a human —
gasps
from both of us
The Universal Language Interpretation implants the humans and I bore allowed us to communicate immediately. They shared stories of their planet and its sentient beings. More importantly, they shared their life stories with me. We discussed values as well as our likes and dislikes and hopes and dreams. And I suddenly no longer felt miserably isolated. At last I had found my own kind.
sign of love
alien traces a human heart
over each of its hearts
I begged to be allowed to stay. The humans agreed. An integral part of the mission assigned to every human settlement on any planet is to locate and welcome members of the indigenous population who would like to become humans. For reasons that scientists are still struggling to explain, a certain percentage of aliens always feel estranged from their own species and want to live their lives as humans.
alien’s computer
its screen saver always
planet Earth
Not only could I legally become a human through the Species Identification treaty subscribed to by so many planets, I could be given a human body. They explained that on the Earth of long ago when humans realized they suffered from gender dysphoria, they underwent surgery and hormone therapy to change their physical appearance. After their transition, they became known as transgender persons.
Old Earth home
hanging in a closet
newly-purchased women’s clothes
Such primitive techniques to change one’s body had been replaced centuries ago by the Gender Transformation Chamber. The phenomenon known as species dysphoria came to the attention of human scientists when space exploration crews established outposts and settlements on other planets. The Species Transformation Chamber, which is essentially a modification of the Gender Transformation Chamber, was perfected less than a century ago. It has a 100 per cent success rate, the settlement’s humans told me.
“Would you like to transition into a transhuman?” one of them asked me. I didn’t need to be extended this invitation twice. I remained wide awake during the procedure and observed my rebirth.
soft glow —
my tentacles reshape themselves
into arms
Suddenly, my vision changed and I saw new colors and strange shapes.
previously known
only theoretically
depth
After my transition, I entered a booth lined with reflecting devices called mirrors.
a stranger’s body
a human’s body
my body
I was anxious to try out my new body and learn how it worked
private cabin
a settlement human helps me test
my new genitals
I lived with the settlement humans for a time, but longed to see what I now regarded as my home planet. With a recommendation from the settlement’s governing board, I was able to realize that goal.
Earth beach walk
I feel sand between
my human toes
John J. Dunphy’s poetry collections include Touching Each Tree, Zen Koanhead, Old Soldiers Fading Away, pagan rites, Stellar Possibilities and Dark Nebulae.