Katie, 18, spent the first 15 years of her life as Luke, son of a Marine¹ colonel, while Arin, 16, was born a girl called Emerald who excelled at ballet dancing and won beauty contests.

 

Both struggled with their sexuality all through their childhoods and were teased and bullied² but their lives were changed when they both began hormone³ therapy and later met at a trans support group in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and instantly fell in love.

 

Katie said: 'All I saw was a handsome guy. We're perfect for each other because we both had the same troubles growing up.

 

'We're both size five, so we even swap⁴ our old clothes our mum's bought us but we hated.

 

'We look so convincing as a boy and a girl, nobody even notices now. We secretly feel so good about it because it's the way we've always wanted to be seen.'

 

High-school student Arin undergoes testosterone shots to give him the more masculine shape he's craved⁵ his whole life.

 

Meanwhile high-school graduate Katie, 18, has finished her female hormone course - oestrogen（雌激素） shots - which helped her to develop natural breasts with no silicone implants⁶.

 

Katie, who has legally been a female since she was 15, believes she was born with naturally high levels of oestrogen and was teased as a boy throughout school for having small AA-cup breasts.

 

Katie added: 'Even from age three, I knew deep down I wanted to be a girl. All I wanted was to play with dolls. I hated my boy body and never felt right in it.

 

'I kept my feelings a total secret growing up and was petrified⁷ of what people in our tiny Christian⁸ town would say. Now Arin and I can share any problems we face together.'

 

Arin recalls a similar experience and says he knew he was a boy inside from his first day at school, aged⁹ just five.

 

Arin realised he wasn't alone after reading about Katie's transition from male to female in their local newspaper. The pair eventually met in a local trans support group and hit it off.

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