Glam transgender woman tells of finding love with man despite still having her ‘male bits’
Natalie Kearney, 20, who was born Matthew, took the bold decision to come out to all her friends and family on Facebook
A GLAMOROUS transgender woman has told of finding love with a man - despite still having all her 'male bits'.
Natalie Kearney, from Wallasey, County Wirral, was born Matthew but admitted she's known she was born in the wrong body her whole life.
After coming out to friends and family on Facebook, the 20-year-old is now awaiting a final operation to transform her into the woman she's always longed to be - and her boyfriend is right there behind her all the way.
Natalie explained: "I’ve got a great face, a great figure. There’s only one problem still to sort - my ‘male’ bits!"
As a young child Natalie felt no different to other kids - but when she turned 11, she told how she began to feel different.
She explained: "I remember suddenly being fascinated by my sister’s clothes. I also loved trying on wigs.
"I remember one afternoon all the other boys in our street were out on their bikes and I was running around in my sister’s clothes with a wig on!
"Everyone was laughing at me but the truth was, it felt so natural."
As time passed, Natalie continued trying on girls’ clothes and posing in front of the mirror.
She also began experimenting with her friend’s make up at school.
Natalie recalled: "By the time I was 14, I’d rush in from school and try my sister’s clothes on in front of the mirror when everyone was out.
"I’d stand in front of the mirror and pretend I was someone else.
"I felt so wrong in my school trousers and jumper and my big bulky boys’ shoes.
"I couldn’t explain it but I just felt I was the wrong person or in the wrong body."
But Natalie felt so confused and under pressure to fit in, she dared not tell a soul.
She even tried having a couple of girlfriends but admitted it never worked out as she was trying to be someone she wasn't.
When Natalie turned 16, she decided enough was enough.
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She said: "I was tired of lying and hiding away, tired of trying on girls’ clothes in secret. I had to be who I really was."
She came out to her family, friends and distant relatives – on Facebook.
Natalie recalled: "I opened a new account in my new name – Natalie – and added everyone.
"Some were shocked, some thought I was messing about. Some didn’t talk to me for a while.
"But this public way of doing it was my way of no going back."
Natalie was so sure she’d made the right decision that she picked up the phone and booked an appointment with her GP.
She explained: "My GP was surprisingly supportive and didn’t seem to think I was too young.
"I was referred for gender counselling. I went for an entire year.
"My counsellor was asking questions, trying to persuade me that perhaps I was doing the wrong thing or hadn’t thought it through.
"But I stuck to my guns. I may have been young but I’d known I’d been in the wrong body all my life."
She was then put on a waiting list and told she must live as a woman for two years before she could be considered for full gender reassignment – to have her penis turned into a vagina.
But for Natalie, patience isn't her strong point.
She explained: "I was fine with the idea of living as a woman – wearing women’s clothes, applying make-up and doing my hair.
"But I found the wait to have surgery done such a long time.
"So I started looking into other alternatives – things I could do in the meantime."
Natalie started looking at websites for transgender people and ordered female hormones online which she began taking.
She admitted: "I know it sounds dangerous getting stuff on line but I was meeting more and more transgender people and they were all doing it.
"It was the only way to truly begin to change and feel like a woman."
Within a few weeks, Natalie noticed huge changes.
She said: "My jaw began to soften, my arm muscles vanished and boobs started to grow.
"Then I developed a bit of a curvy bum too. I was thrilled. I was becoming a woman."
Now Natalie is awaiting her final op to make her the woman she longs to be.
She’s also waiting to start a drama course at college this September and has a 26-year-old boyfriend who supports her in her journey to change gender.
She said most of her good friends have stuck by her, adding: "Now when I look in the mirror I am who I want to be.
"I just have to make that final change and finally, at long last, after a lifetime of being born in the wrong body, I will be the person I was always supposed to be."
