A WOMAN who believed she was born a boy but later changed her mind says kids with gender dysphoria shouldn’t be encouraged to switch sex.

Psychotherapist Stella O’Malley, 43, grew up during the 1970s believing she was the wrong gender.

4 Psychotherapist Stella grew up believing she should have been a boy Credit: Fergal Phillips - The Sunday Times

As a child, she dressed, acted and was treated as a boy by her family and friends — but once she hit puberty, everything changed.

Married mum-of-two Stella, from Co Offaly, says she then began to identify as a girl and now, 30 years later, believes too many kids are given the option to transition.

She said: “From as early as I can remember, I genuinely thought I should be a boy.

“I was known as a tomboy. As far as I was concerned, people had to accept me as a boy, and God help anyone that didn’t.

4 Stella was treated like a boy by friends and family Credit: Fergal Phillips - The Sunday Times

“I lived like a boy, everybody treated me like a boy and I was accepted as a boy. I’m so happy being a woman now, and I’m so very much accepting of who I am.

“But if I lived 35 years later, without a doubt I would have been that kid who would have been online, who would have got those hormone treatments, who would have transitioned. Without a doubt.”

Stella appeared in controversial new Channel 4 doc Trans Kids: It’s Time to Talk, where she set out to discover whether it’s harmful to let kids transition too early.

In Ireland, hormonal, psychological or surgical intervention is not available to kids under 16, but they can be referred for assessment and treatment in the UK. Worried that experts too readily offer hormone therapy in Britain as a solution, Stella met with several children in the process of transitioning.

4 Stella features in a new Channel 4 documentary

She also spoke with one woman who was in the process of “de-transitioning” because she had changed her mind.

The show was broadcast on Wednesday and some Twitter users lashed out at Stella.

One said: “I’m sending a huge hug to all the #TransKids out there who may be unfortunately watching this and feeling like s***. Be strong. #YouAreNotAlone #Trans KidsItsTimeToTalk is TRASH!”

In the documentary, Stella admitted she is dubious of transitioning in some cases as “no one is certain” of the long-term risks of “untested drugs”. She even wondered if some children are simply “lost” and are being led.

4 Cole speaks with Stella about documenting his transition on YouTube

She said: “There’s no doubt in my mind that, for many people, transitioning can be absolutely the right path. But despite all the people that I’ve met, I’m still so uncomfortable with the idea of kids taking drugs that can cause permanent damage to their bodies.

“I’m just haunted by the thought that there are kids out there like I was who changed their minds.”

And tearing up in the doc, Stella insisted: “I think they’re being led, I think they’re lost and I think they’re being led.”

Stella revealed some UK transgender lobby groups and charities refused to speak with her for the doc.

She said: “It’s right to ask legitimate questions about people who may regret transitioning, or the lack of research into the drugs to make sure we are not doing harm to kids. They don’t like the fact I had gender dysphoria, I was that kid and I have grown up to be this woman. On some level that is threatening as far as I can say.”

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She added: “When puberty hit, it was like a train wreck, my body was changing and I couldn’t disregard my body anymore.

“I emerged as a woman and I’m glad as a woman. I’m happily married, I’ve two kids, I love being a mother and I can’t recognise that little boy that I was.

“I just didn’t have the framework the kids today have.”