Delivery driver who feels 'reborn' after transitioning at 61 is 'forever in wife's debt'

Delivery driver who feels 'reborn' after transitioning at 61 is 'forever in wife's debt' after she paid for £68k surgeries.

Story by Eleanor Fleming, PA

A delivery driver who kept her "incredible desire to be female" secret for more than 60 years, and thought marriage would "cure" her before attempting to take her own life twice, says she feels "reborn" since transitioning.

Melanie Taylor transitioned at the age of 61 thanks to her wife funding £68,000 of surgeries. Now 65, the Australian living in Penrith, said she knew she was "different to other boys" at the age of five or six, as she wished she could wear "frilly dresses" and have her "hair long and in ponytails".

Melanie explained that when she saw photos of herself as a toddler, "all (she) saw was a girl" – and this led to her feeling "confused" and believing that "something was wrong with (her)".

She said she felt like "a deviant or some strange, sick individual", but she made the difficult decision to "take (her) secret to the grave rather than become an outcast", and she later got married and had three children.

However, one day, out of nowhere, Melanie's wife asked "Do you want to be a woman?" and after answering "Yes" Melanie said she freed herself from the "living hell" she was in and was able to pursue her dreams of becoming female.

"I thought about what it would be like to transition to a woman for many years, but never in my wildest dreams did I ever think it would be possible until my wife popped that fateful question," Melanie said. "(It was) a point in my life that freed me to follow my dream."

Melanie, who works as a professional delivery driver in the automotive parts industry – which she described as a "very male-dominated industry" – grew up in Parramatta, Australia, and lived there until her early 20s.

In her childhood, she said she wished she was like other girls; she "hated being dirty" and was not a "rough and tumble boy".

She explained that she was brought up in an era where "not much was known about transgender people" and, given there was no internet and a lack of information at the time, Melanie did not understand why she wanted to be female.

These feelings of confusion continued into her teenage years, and even into her 60s, but after meeting the woman who she later married, Melanie thought "this relationship would cure (her) desires to be a female".

CONTINUE READING HERE

--------------------

HOME PAGE

BLOG HOME PAGE

DIARY OF EVENTS