An ex-firefighter has undergone gender reassignment surgery at the age of 80 after a lifetime of feeling unhappy
Isobel Jeffrey spoke about how she is now at peace having been "trapped in the wrong body" for most of her life in tough traditionally-male roles. Married Isobel admitted she took on "masculine" jobs - and was known as Andrew Jeffrey to male workmates on ships, as a truck driver and a firefighter - to convince herself of her gender.
But for the past six years she has been living as a woman, and began transitioning at the age of 79 before completing surgery this year. She said: "I cannot tell you how much it has meant to me; the peace, the calm and the contentment that has been brought over me.
"People ask me what I am smiling about, and someone asked recently why I was walking taller! Everything has just fallen into place - it was meant to be. Now I just want to spread the good news and help others. I feel like 25 – not nearly 81!”
Read more: Drag queen whose storytime at the Tate caused protests pledges to keep fighting prejudice
Isobel, of Winsford, Cheshire, has been married to wife Margaret for almost 60 years and had her full support in her transition journey.
She said: "So many people ask why I left it so long but around 10 to 15 years ago, it was becoming more accepted. The changing attitudes in society gave me more confidence to be who I am.
"It’s not to be undertaken lightly, of course, but I am proof that you’re never too old. As long as you’re physically able to undertake the surgery, then it can happen."
Isobel said she knew from a young age that she was different to other children as she grew up in Marshfield, South Gloucestershire.
She said: "I always played with my sister and her dolls and pushed her pram. Seventy years ago, boys didn’t push dolls’ prams around. It was already starting to show then in hindsight.
"I didn’t understand it, I just seemed to feel different. I was dressing up in women’s clothing probably from around 10 or 12. I learned to hide it and was the quiet child at the back normally.”
Isobel took on physical roles for 40 years as she tried to convince herself that she was male.
"I sailed around the world out of Liverpool or London with the merchant navy and did two 18-month voyages. When I came back, I became a firefighter for Bristol City Fire Service as it was known then,” she said.
"Then I went into heavy goods driving and oversized loads. I did everything I could to ‘prove’ I was a man with ‘manly’ jobs but all the time I had a niggling feeling in the back of my mind. I would come home at the end of the day and get into a nightdress. I can laugh about it now, but I was living two lives.”
Isobel grew up as a boy called Andrew Jeffery, alongside four brothers and a sister. It was around the age of 10 that she first realised she felt different.
“I would’ve been bullied badly had I not had a twin brother who stuck up for me. My brother was in a different class to me, and we weren’t always together, but I only had to say so and so has been on at me again and he would sort them out!"
Isobel underwent gender confirmation surgery in January at Spire Yale Hospital in Wrexham under the watchful eye of Consultant Urologist Christian Seipp.
Mr Seipp, 56, said: “I was extremely touched by Isobel’s story. It’s amazing how somebody lived their life for such a long time hiding their real identity, it was very emotional.
“The majority of patients are in their 20s or 30s but quite a few patients wish to complete their transition with gender affirming surgery in their 50s or 60s.
“This is really a story about what it means to be transgender. We are living in a more liberal society now compared to a time when people like Isobel were growing up.
“But discrimination and barriers still exist. For many people with gender dysphoria, life is filled with anxiety, depression, pain, and a struggle for acceptance, belonging and equality.
“Gender incongruence is not a choice - being born with a body that is not aligned with what your mind perceives as your true identity is scary and makes you question your space in society. It has taken Isobel almost eight decades to get to the point where she mustered up the courage to express and reveal her real identity.”
Next week:
