To be deemed a suitable client for surgery he must demonstrate that he has lived as a woman for at least two years. The mother could only watch and hope her son was not bullied when, in January, he began dressing as a girl to attend his school, King Edward VII comprehensive in Sheffield, where he is studying for four A-levels, including psychology. All exchanged trousers and shirts for skirts and cropped tops. He bought a bra, which he wears stuffed with cotton wool and began openly wearing make-up. He stopped concealing his nail polish under gloves.
Mothers always disapprove of their children's clothing, so there's nothing unusual there.
I think I was more worried about the material -chiffon is far too cold for January. Amazingly, no one seemed to bat an eyelid. Together with his elder brother Jonathon, he was brought up in a rambling, two-storey house in the heart of Sheffield. I remember I desperately wanted to wear a skirt and be like the other little girls. Somehow my mum got me a yellow wrap-around skirt and I loved it.