A transgender woman has revealed how she underwent gender reassignment surgery exactly 30 years after joining the army.

Kerri Mitchell, 47, from Romford, Essex, who was formerly known as Kevin, told how she signed up in a bid to be 'like the other boys'.

Kerri hid women's clothing in the attic while living with her ex-wife but finally started living as a woman in 2010 - undergoing surgery in September 2014 and spending £4,000 on DD breast implants.

Kerri Mitchell, 47, from Romford, Essex, underwent gender reassignment surgery exactly 30 years after joining the army

Kerri served with the Royal Green Jackets as a Rifelman in Northern Ireland, Germany, Canada, the Falklands and Gibraltar - but admits she may never have joined if she had been born a woman

Kerri said: ‘It’s not been an easy road for me, but I don’t regret a thing. Being born as Kevin and serving in the army made me the woman I am today.’

Kerri served with the Royal Green Jackets as a Rifelman in Northern Ireland, Germany, Canada, the Falklands and Gibraltar.

She signed up in 1984 in a desperate bid to be the man everyone expected her to be.

She said: ‘From the age of seven I gravitated towards women’s clothes but I didn’t know why.

‘At school, I wished I could wear a PE skirt like the girls, but with no access to internet or people in the media to identify with I just had to go with my instincts.’

Aged eight, she started sneaking into her mother’s room to try on clothes, which made her feel liberated but lonely at the same time.

She said: ‘I wondered if I was the only person in the world who felt this way. I tried so much to act like the other boys but I never felt like one of them.’

As a child (pictured) Kerri gravitated towards women’s clothes but she didn’t know why and later tried to be more masculine

In 2000, Kerri began to dress as a woman in secret keeping clothes in the loft. She said: ‘My wife never went up there. I didn’t want to risk the relationship which is why I kept it a secret'

Kerri had her first kiss and lost her virginity to a girl, then aged 16 she signed up to join the Army.

She said: ‘I wanted to be the Kevin that everyone expected me to be. To a certain extent it worked. I put my past down to childhood innocence and finally became one of the lads.

‘I loved the camaraderie and was very proud to be serving my country.’

But after eight years she left and began working as a lorry driver.

Back in civilian life, the old feelings returned and she began wearing female clothes in secret.

Then in 1995 she fell in love with a woman and managed to suppress the feelings to get married in 1998. However two years later, she secretly began dressing as a woman in the loft.

She said: ‘My wife never went up there. I didn’t want to risk the relationship which is why I kept it a secret

‘I hoped it would be enough to satisfy my urges and allow me to continue with my normal life.'

By 2003, the feelings were stronger than ever and she decided to tell her wife the truth.

Kerri said: ‘I guess I hoped she might try and understand and accept it as part of our lives, but she refused to discuss it, burying her head in the sand.’

Kerri was in the army and 'loved the camaraderie and was very proud to be serving my country' but she later left and became a lorry driver

Kerri was conscious about her weight so joined Slimming World and lost six-and-a-half stone in ten months. Once she slimmed to a size 12 she finally felt confident to live as a woman every day

However Kerri decided she could not go on living a lie and in 2009, after having therapy, the couple separated.

Kerri said: ‘Now I was single it was a chance to finally be honest about who I was.’

Kerri went out in public for the first time as a female and also realised she was attracted to men.

She said: ‘That took some getting my head around. But it made sense now I was spending more time as a female.’

However because she weighed 19 stone and wore a size 22 she didn’t feel confident when she went out in public as a woman.

In January 2010, she joined her local Slimming World as Kevin and lost six and a half stone in ten months.

She slimmed to a size 12 and when she walked through Romford market one Saturday morning dressed as a woman, nobody looked twice.

She said: 'I knew then that I had to make the transition full-time and my bosses at the council offices where I worked in IT were supportive.'

Kerri, pictured as Kevin, separated from her wife after telling her the truth. Kerri said: ‘Now I was single it was a chance to finally be honest about who I was'

Kerri said following her decision to live full-time as a woman her life got easier and more enjoyable

In October 2010, she took leave and returned to work as Kerri. She said: ‘My colleagues were great, except one who made an issue about me using the women’s toilets but I told her I’d much rather use the men’s because they were so much cleaner.’

Kerri said following her decision to live full-time as a woman, life got easier and more enjoyable.

She said: ‘People treated me as a female. And underneath I was female and always had been. But I knew I’d never really feel complete unless I underwent gender reassignment surgery.’

She was on her way to the hospital for the NHS funded surgery on 11 September 2014 when it dawned on she had joined the arm 'exactly 30 years earlier to the day'.

She said: 'In many ways it seemed poles apart, but at the same time, both required courage, bravery and determination.’

As she was wheeled into theatre she said there were virtually no nerves because she had never felt more sure about anything in her life.

She said: ‘I was just anxious that the surgery would go well.’

Kerri, as Kevin on a camel in Cairo, Egypt, finally underwent gender reassignment surgery in September 2014 - a procedure that was funded by the NHS

When she groggily came round and remembered where she was, she recalled thinking: 'I’m a woman at last.'

Speaking of the moment the bandages were removed two days later, she said: ‘I felt absolutely amazing. I view my condition as a birth defect, that I was born with an outside that didn’t match the inside and surgery simply put that right.’

But her transformation wasn’t quite complete and last year she decided to have a breast enlargement.

She said: ‘My surgeon at Transform was lovely, understanding and sympathetic and I felt I was in good hands.’

Kerri told how her new £4,000 38DD breasts felt like the final part of the puzzle.

She explained: ‘Finally I felt I looked good on the outside and I had the confidence to persue my ambition to work as a make-up artist.

'I’m now fully qualified and training in theatrical make-up too.’ Since her transition she has also found a boyfriend.

After surgery, Kerri remembers groggily coming round and thinking: 'I’m a woman at last.' She has since trained as a make-up artist and found a boyfriend

She said: ‘I have been honest with him about who I am but he didn’t care. It was me as a person he fell in love with.

‘I was doing the make-up at a fashion show recently and was lucky enough to meet Kellie Maloney who I really admire.

‘Transitioning in the spotlight, especially having worked in such a male dominated environment took real guts.'

She believes the success of films like The Danish Girl (a fictional love story loosely based on Lili Elbe, one of the first known recipients of sex reassignment surgery) is helping to show what it really means to be trans.

And after hearing Eddie Redymayne had been nominated for an Oscar for the role, Kerri was inspired to speak out about her own transition.

She said: ‘Hearing Redmayne was nominated for his portrayal of the first ever sex change patient felt like such a victory, not just for him but for the whole trans community.'