Move allowed Xenia to be herself

A TRANSGENDER woman who found the confidence to live as herself when she moved to Wales says she is now living a “brilliant” life.

Xenia Brunel, 53, moved to Cardiff in 2004 after suffering a mental breakdown. Xenia used to dress as a man in the day and as a woman during the night, but said the “dual life” started to take its toll on her.

She said: “My journey started when I was five years old. I felt that I was a girl and at the age of eight I started to dress up as a girl.”

Xenia was diagnosed with gender dysphoria and in 2010 she started to fight for funding on the NHS to have genital reconstructive surgery.

Gender dysphoria is a condition where a person experiences discomfort or distress because there is a mismatch between their biological sex and gender identity. In Xenia’s case, this meant beginning to live as a woman full time. After her transition, Xenia was ready to have genital reassignment surgery on February 9, 2015. She was in hospital for nine days after the surgery before returning home to Cardiff.

Xenia said if anyone faces any issues in the transgender community in South Wales, they should contact the Unity LGBT Centre in Swansea.

The centre helps transgender people, service providers, employers and equality organisations to work together to improve gender identity and gender reassignment equality, rights and inclusion in Wales.

Contact Unity on 01792 346299 or info@unitygroup. wales