‘I was always a man- well, I suppose I was a boy first’

“Growing up I was very confused and depressed. I learned about trans* people first when I was 15 but back then it just scared me. I guess I was in denial.”

Robert is currently going through gender reassignment therapy: “It wasn’t difficult to make the decision, I didn’t have a choice really. I was born a man.”

When Robert started uni he still officially had the name Marie. But he never felt like a woman. He said: “I’ve known since childhood that I was male, you need to follow your identity.”

He was still living as Marie but very unhappy: “I was depressed, I did a lot of bad things and I hurt myself. I suppose you could say I was running away.”

In first year Robert made the decision to transition socially and medically from female to male: “I went to see a doctor who referred me to a specialised psychiatrist. Then I was evaluated and had a second opinion from a psychologist. Then I got to start the hormonal treatment.”

He has since then been taking hormonal injections of testosterone every ten weeks.

And there are more operations to come. In October he will undergo his first gender confirmation surgery. He said: “It’s divided into “top” and “bottom”.”

Robert juggles gender reassignment therapy and uni

He is going to start with the top-procedure first, which includes a chest removal. The bottom surgery is a very big operation which would take about a year to heal from: “I’m not sure yet if I want to do the bottom surgery. I’m 95% sure.

“But I’m very impressed with how good the procedures are.”

He hasn’t had much contact with the university, except for organising practicalities such as changing his name and gender in his student records:. He said: “There was this awkward mix up time when people were getting used to calling me Robert.

“I still respond to Marie, I had to teach myself to stop responding to it.”

Thankfully, those who know Robert is transgender have been supporting and understanding.

“My friends are really interested and excited about it. I was a little surprised that my family has been so accepting of this. I expected my grandma to be the worst.

“I sent her a letter explaining everything to her. Later she left me a really nice voicemail saying that she loved me and that she knew already.”

“My mum was shocked and at first she didn’t believe me. But it’s ok, I think she’d like me to go through with it all now.”

He laughed: “There’s no way back now, anyway.”

Now Robert feels much happier: “Starting this has only had a positive effect.”

And happiness isn’t the only side-effect of the procedure so far. He said: “I’m hungrier, and warmer; my body temperature is much higher.

“My physical stamina is so much better and I have bigger muscles without even doing anything for them.”

“I don’t like the perception that trans* people are “changing”. I was always a man- well, I suppose I was a boy first.”