Marcy and Scottie are a middle-aged married couple living in a beautiful craftsman house perched atop the Woodland Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. They describe their relationship as one full of laughter and love.
Despite being fourteen years older than her groom, Marcy and Scott married in April, 1989. Their love was what Marcy always wanted—someone who never stopped being romantic and attentive to her needs, someone with whom she laughed a lot and who made her feel safe.
Soon after their 20th anniversary, Scott burst into tears one morning while bringing her coffee in bed. He confessed that he thought he was a woman. At first, Marcy thought Scott was going through a midlife crisis, but soon realized her husband had been suffering all his life with what’s called gender dysphoria and wasn’t able to keep it in any longer.
In an effort to understand what her husband was experiencing, Marcy began to educate herself about what this meant for Scott and for the two of them. Scott, who now wanted to be called “Scottie”, began seeing a therapist. Together they spent five years in silence — not telling anyone what they were going through. As they embarked on a deep journey of discovery as a couple, life threw many more challenges their way. (you could say – including a cancer diagnosis for Marcy – but I remember you said you didn’t want to give it away) .
This story deals with the complex array of emotions, values and cultural imprints they each had to look at as their marriage was put to the test.
In a 2016 report, it was estimated that nearly 1.4 million adults in the U.S. were reported to be transgender. As the idea of being a transsexual individual becomes more socially acceptable, there’s an increase of people who opt for sex reassignment surgery. Of the 3,256 surgeries that have been reported in the United States, 54% were male-to-female. Only a small percentage of had a spouse at their side during the process.
Through a series of portraits, paired with honest quotes from Marcy and Scottie, we follow the two as they open up about the most intimate aspects of their relationship. One Wife's Story speaks about the unbreakability of love.
I am continuing to document Scottie after Marcy's passing.
