SEX SWAP SIBLING BRINGS JOY TO MUM ‘I spent 15 years looking for my brother... only to find she’s now my sister’
A MUM spent 15 years looking for her long-lost brother – only to find she had a sister instead.
Linda Vine, 58, was adopted at five months old but decided to hunt for her biological family, including halfbrother Leslie Ede.
She found a Melissa Ede on Facebook and thought it might be a new sister-inlaw.
But she was shocked to discover Melissa was her biological brother Leslie.
Having lived as Melissa since 2005, Leslie had gender reassignment surgery in 2011.
Now mum-of-four Linda and Melissa, 56, are in regular contact and have developed a “sisterly bond”.
Linda said: “For years, there was something missing from my life and now I know it was Melissa.
“My search was all about finding my biological family so Melissa’s gender has never mattered a bit to me – I’m thrilled to have found my sister.”
Taxi driver Melissa, from Hull, added: “I lost contact with my other siblings after my transition. So to meet Linda, who’s only ever known me as a woman, was a blessing.”
Linda’s birth mother was 18 when she gave her up in September 1958. She grew up knowing she was adopted with three younger biological half-siblings.
She launched the hunt for her birth AMY SHARPE family in 1998 – but didn’t get good news. Linda, who lives in Clayton-le-Moors, Lancs, said: “Writing to my biological mother was a huge deal for me. “I explained my adoptive parents had passed away and that I had children, making her a grandmother. “Six months passed before I received a letter from her asking me not to contact her again. It was like a punch to the gut. “But my husband Kevin persuaded me my siblings might think differently.” Linda spent two years trying to track them down and found their first names – Cheryl, Leslie and Stephen. Linda added: “I saw Melissa’s name and thought she might be married to either Leslie or Stephen. “But Melissa’s photos showed a woman with blonde hair and blue eyes who looked just like me. “When I read what she’d written about herself, I couldn’t believe my eyes. “She was a transgender woman, formerly known as Leslie – all this time I’d been looking for a brother, only to discover I should have been looking for a sister.” And although Linda has yet to hear from her other siblings, she understands they may not wish to contact her. She added: “My relationship with Melissa is enough to fill the void that has plagued me all these years.”