I thought I was a boy until I got my period and grew breasts as a teenager – then I found out the truth
A woman has shared her story of how she discovered she had both female and male sex organs – after nearly two decades believing she was a boy.
Growing up, Emma Lynn Dowd, 44, from Connecticut, was encouraged to play with soccer balls and toy cars and pursue other hobbies that society often considers stereotypically masculine.
However, when she was 18 years old, she discovered that she was intersex, with both ovarian and testicular tissue externally and internally.
“I have no idea why my parents decided to raise me as a boy,” says Emma, now 44. And honestly, it doesn’t really matter now.
“If I hadn’t had that experience, I wouldn’t have been able to see life through a man’s eyes, which has proven to be extremely helpful at times.
Emma Lynn Dowd (pictured), from Connecticut, has shared her remarkable story of how she discovered she had both female and male sex organs
Although Emma was raised by her parents as a boy, she often felt different from others during her childhood.
She said: ‘Growing up it was very difficult because I felt like I was different from other children – and my interests, desires and thoughts were ‘girly’.
“That’s why I imitated other boys in an attempt to be masculine.”
She added: “I’ve never had gender dysmorphia, I’ve always been fine with the way I looked but I was always accused of being a ‘chick’.”
As a result, Emma was ‘severely’ bullied as a child for her differences.
The problems did not diminish during high school either.
She said, “High school was hard. My body finally decided to enter puberty, and that’s when I started seeing signs that I could be a woman.”
When Emma got her first period and started developing breasts, she was given testosterone tablets to stop the process.
Emma (pictured above in 2018 before transitioning into a woman) believed she was a man for almost two decades
Growing up as a boy, the 44-year-old was encouraged to play with footballs and toy cars and pursue other hobbies often seen by society as stereotypically masculine.
Emma thought the doctors’ reaction was ‘very normal’ at the time.
“Some activists believe you should wait for the child to make the choice, but this is exactly what my parents intended to do at the time,” she said.
It wasn’t until Emma went to college at the age of 18 that she realized her anatomy was very different from that of other men in the locker room.
She said: ‘That’s when I fully realized I was a woman.
‘I had mixed feelings; it confirmed the inner feelings and desires I had, and it confirmed for me that I was not gay.
‘At the same time, I was shocked because I felt like I had to hide my condition.
“I felt like a hybrid and a freak.”
For years afterwards, Emma – who felt it was too late to ‘reverse’ her gender – continued to live as a man, until an accident in 2019 changed her life forever.
She said: ‘It was early in the morning and I went to the playpen where I put my dog down.
‘Suddenly I slipped and hit my head on a piece of PVC pipe sticking out of a rack.
‘It hit the base of my skull and split open.
“I was still awake, so I went straight to the doctor.”
According to Emma, doctors told her that the trauma to her head weakened her body’s testosterone production.
Emma said: ‘(When the doctors told me the news) I was confused as I thought it was just a concussion.
She took this as a sign to discuss her condition, and during recovery, Emma requested hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to transition to a woman.
In 2021, Emma had long hair, had her period again and had developed breasts. Now she has completely transitioned into a woman
Emma enjoys life as a woman – and her name is the name her mother would have wanted to give her if she had been born a girl
After turning into a woman, Emma is able to go through life “without anger” and generally “happy”
Despite the initial confusion, Emma was “happy” to “enter this new way of life as a woman.”
She said: ‘I was shocked when they told me I could be a woman, but it made sense.
‘I was put on HRT and told to let my body do its own thing.’
In 2021, Emma had long hair, had her period again and had developed breasts.
She said: ‘I also got a name change to the name my mother wanted to give me if I was born a girl.
‘I never talked to my parents about why they raised me as a boy, because in my mind they made a choice out of love.
‘I don’t blame anyone. My parents have been supportive of my transition and we have talked about things, we are on good terms now, Emma added.
‘My friends have been very supportive – there were a few who were ‘crazy’ but I don’t speak to them anymore.
She concluded: ‘I am myself now, I want to live an anger-free and happy life, without any grudges towards anyone.’