They've been doing these surgeries all the way back to the '50s. Much harder to find someone to perform the surgery back then, but it was possible. Of course it became far easier and more popular by the mid 2000s.

I remember meeting my older brother's professor once, around 2005 or so, who was a full grown man transitioning to a woman. Freaked me the frick out. I was a little kid and had no idea what I was looking at, and would have been terrified if he had followed me into the bathroom he felt "comfortable" in.

That was the first time I realized I didn't live in a safe world anymore.