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Lewis Hancox was born Lois but says he knew he was in the wrong body from the age of four.

He is in the final stages of his gender realignment surgery, and recalled being “in the wrong body” as a very young child.

The 25-year-old filmmaker said: “I would cry every night saying I was a boy trapped in a girl’s body.”

Refusing to wear dresses wasn’t just a phase and he dreaded the changes to his body puberty would bring. Lewis said: “It went much deeper than just being a tomboy.”

And he doesn’t think three-year-olds are too young to be told about being transgender, saying: “I felt like that when I was young.”

Lewis has no regrets about his surgery and said: “It wasn’t just that I wanted to be a boy, I WAS a boy.”

(Image: Liverpool Echo)

He began the process of gender alignment surgery aged 22.

But Lewis, of Brighton, said he had no doubts he was doing the right thing when he chose to have the operation.

When he woke up from the surgery he said he “didn’t feel weird in the slightest”.

He added: “It’s really strange, it just feels like how it should’ve always been.”

Lewis said: “I was four and my mum had me in this dress for the school photo.

"The only way they got me to wear it was that I wore shorts under the dress so I could take it off as soon as the photo was taken.”

Lewis dreaded puberty. The thought his body would would change in the “wrong way” terrified him.

(Image: Liverpool Echo)

He said: “I used to hit myself in the chest, I thought then breasts wouldn’t grow.”

Lewis said his mum was incredibly supportive but he knew it was hard for her to know what to do.

He said he does not think three-year-olds are too young to be told about being transgender.

He added: “I don’t think that’s too young, I felt like that when I was young.”

Lewis believes greater awareness of transgender issues is responsible for the rise in kids being referred.

He said: “When I got to high school I still thought I was the only one who felt that way, I thought I was a weirdo, I thought there was something wrong with me.”

Lewis thinks talking about the issue to friends or family can only help those who are struggling.