My personal story and offers hope! I share about how I got started drinking at age nine, had my first blackout age 14, kept on drinking hard, always to get drunk and tried to away from the pain of childhood abuse, got into drugs in college and finally bottomed out in 1977. How drinking negatively affected my life but also how it helped me as a coping mechanism with pain, and horrible abuse in and outside the home throughout childhood and into teenage years. I was born intersex due to a genetic condition, knew I was a boy but was raised female and hated it and hated my life. I was frustrated and had few options, alcohol was one of those options when my dad gave me my first drink at age 9. It was part of the culture.

I grew up on a small family farm in Minnesota and my dad drank often he was what you call a functional alcoholic. Mother was the family controller. Alcohol was a problem on both sides of the family. I was also abused by a local and regional cult as well as incest and physical abuse. My Grandmother and the animals on the farm as well as nature saved my life and sanity.

This is a true story and shares how I found a way out and how some Power greater than alcohol and abuse helped along with the love of my Granmother. I dedicate my book A Comprehensive Guide To Intersex, 2021, Jessica Kingsley Pubishers, London, to my Grandmother. At age 68 I am a published author and continue to paint angels and energy paintings, have real friends and I am a real friend, get my bills paid on time and am out of debt. It continues to take work and learning and willingness which I have because my life is so much better today. I like myself and and at peace in my own skin.

You can contact me at jaykylepetersen.com