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Wow....
featured in one of those legendary News of the World stories
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BLONDE, tall and beautiful, Melanie McPryce proudly shows off her soft feminine curves every inch a stunning young woman of 18.
On the right, full of laddish mischief and his hair spiked with attitude, Tom McGloan poses for his school photo a typical tousled 15-year-old on the brink of manhood.
But look closer. Mel and Tom are the SAME person. And the only difference is three years and a sex swap op that produced astonishing results.
Mel, one of the youngest people in Britain to undergo the radical surgery, grinned: "My mum bought it for me on my 18th birthday and it was the best present I could ever have.
"More than anyone she understood the turmoil inside me. I just couldn't go on the way I was.
"The surgeons did the most fantastic job. You can't tell that I was born male not at all. Even my ex-boyfriend who I split with two weeks ago still doesn't know I used to be a man."
Mum Denise, 50, took out a loan against her house for the op which cost £12,000 and included a 36C boob job in Thailand last year.
It ended years of anguish for the little boy called Tom, who knew from the age of five that he wanted to be female.
Heels
Size 10 Mel, from Nottingham, smiles wistfully: "I used to lie in bed wishing I could just click my fingers and be transformed into a pretty little girl.
"I KNEW I was a girl. No question about it. I was interested in girly things like clothes and make-up.
"I looked in every respect like a boy but I just didn't feel like one. At school I didn't have any boy mates, just girls.
"I didn't tell anyone my secret and how I felt. I acted like a lad. I felt I had to, to avoid being bullied.
"My poor mum was really keen for me to join the school football team and was delighted when I asked her for a pair of football boots.
"I couldn't wait to walk up and down our garden path in them. She had no idea that I wanted them so much because the studs felt like I was walking in a pair of high heels. I absolutely loved the click-click sound they made!
"I used to adore dressing up as a girl. I did it in secret. I would come home from school, lock myself in my bedroom and use my sisters' make-up and clothes.
"It made me feel really good. I was pretty and that seemed right. I loved the way I looked in the mirror. I hated having to change out of the clothes and take my make-up off. It was like wiping myself away."
As he grew older Tom became even more confused.
"Although I felt like a girl trapped inside a boy's body, I still had male hormones raging through me and so I fancied girls," admitted Mel.
"Later, when I was going ahead with the sex change, I thought I would continue to fancy women as I had as a boy.
"I reconciled myself to the fact that I would be a lesbian. But once I'd had the op and started taking female hormones I began fancying men."
By the time Tom was 15 his secret was tearing him apart.
Mel recalled: "I suffered anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder because I was suppressing my true feelings. It was actually Big Brother winner Nadia Almada who inspired me.
"I didn't even realise you could have an operation to change your sex until I saw her on telly. I remember watching one night with my mum. I said to her in a jokey way, What would you do if I was like Nadia?'
"She said she'd accept me whoever I was. I didn't tell her the truth that night. I was scared and I bottled it. But not long afterwards I came clean and told her I wanted a sex-change operation.
"She was shocked but she was my mum and she supported me. Together we got through it. Telling my mum and the way she reacted made it easier to tell my two sisters and my friends. They were all really supportive. It was a great relief to finally come out.
Wig
"The only person who didn't take the news well was my dad Charlie, who left us when I was four. He disowned me and said if he wanted a daughter he'd have another kid. But since the op he's apologised and we get on fine."
Soon after his big confession Tom left school and went to college as Mel.
She said: "I purposely chose one where nobody from my school was going. I did a hairdressing course with one of my sisters and started dressing as a girl full-time."
For her first female public appearance she wore a long blonde wig from Debenhams, figure-hugging jeans, furry boots, a borrowed denim jacket and sunglasses.
Mel who has two sisters, Lyndsey, 31, and Nicky, 29 said: "I was so excited. It was the first day of the rest of my life. Under my clothes, I'd wear a bra with chicken fillets. I didn't have much money so I borrowed my sisters' bras. They didn't mind."
The following year, she started to make enquiries about a permanent physical change.
She revealed: "I went with my mum to our GP and said I needed some help. My body was changing. I was now shooting up and becoming a young man."
Eventually, Mel was put in touch with a specialist psychiatrist who diagnosed Gender Identity Disorder. He prescribed hormones to make her look more feminine but warned she would have to wait a year till she was 18 for surgery and a lot longer than that on the NHS.
Mel recalled: "I did loads of research and found there was a really good surgeon in Thailand. It was also a lot cheaper £12,000 compared to £20,000 here. We had to send him psychiatrist's letters, referrals and pictures.
"In May last year the surgeon gave me the go-ahead. He said he was free on July 26, the day after my 18th birthday.
"I was so happy and excited, but also scared and nervous. My mum took out a loan for £15,000, to cover the operation and travel."
The surgery lasted 10 hours and Mel took five months to heal completely.
She smiled: "Then I could finally look in the mirror and feel like a complete woman. I wanted a new name to go with my new identity so I changed it by deed poll. I chose Melanie McPryce just because I liked the sound of it."
Physically, Mel has experimented as both a man and a woman. She said: "I did have sex as a lad but I didn't enjoy it. I remember wishing I was in the girl's position the whole time."
Since the op there have been two partners. She smiled: "That first time as a woman was very special as well as being very scary. It felt right, much better than doing it as a man. "My second boyfriend didn't know about my past and I was always worrying he'd be able to tell. But he never could."
Peace
Mum Denise said: "When Mel told me that she wanted to be a girl, it took a lot of getting used to. But I had to help although I admit I do miss my little Thomas. He was my only son.
"But this is Mel's life. She has to be who she has to be. I just want my child to be at peace with herself and have a wonderful and happy life."
And Mel added: "What Mum did for me was unbelievable. Finally I feel AND look the way I always should have. I am so happy and at ease with who I am. It's what I've always wanted.
"It's great. I even get compared to Cameron Diaz!"
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