Tuesday 24 May 2016

Transgender brothers who supported each others transition from men to women


Jamie O'Herlihy, 23, and her sister Chloe, 20, formerly called Daniel, spent their childhood years dressing up as female celebrities and playing with dolls. But as they went through school, they hid their gender struggles from everyone - including each other - out of fear of how they would be perceived. Eventually, last summer, the siblings opened up to each other about their battles while celebrating Chloe's graduation at their home in Cork, Ireland. vNow, they have both come out as transgender, are living as women and are planning to go under the knife for gender reassignment surgery. They are sharing their story in the hope of inspiring others to be true to themselves.
More pictures after the cut




Jamie, a bartender in Dublin, said: "It's a cliche to say 'I always knew' but I did and I just kept pushing it to the back of my mind.
"Then I started doing some drag shows in the evenings and I realised how comfortable I felt dressed up.
"I tried to ignore it but it got to the point where when the morning came round I didn't want to take off the drag because it was a better representation of me than I was.
"So I came out to Chloe and our mum last summer and by November I had come out to all my friends and colleagues."
Chloe, a hairdressing student living in Cork, added: "I always wore makeup and had longer hair. I've never really been considered one of the lads, I was always one of the girls.
"It's weird that we were both going through exactly the same thing and having the same thoughts about being trans but just not talking to each other.
"Then when Jamie came out and told us, I was like 'right this is something you are going to have to face too'."



Jamie, who has kept her birth name since transitioning, always wanted a little sister. When she found out her mum was pregnant, she was so excited she picked out the name Chloe. She said she was devastated when she was presented with her new baby brother, Daniel, instead. But now, after the siblings both came out, Jamie has the sister she always wanted and Chloe has even taken on the name her sister chose for her 20 years ago.

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