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A transsexual woman is warning others to think carefully about undergoing sex-change surgery after the process destroyed her life.

Leanne Mills, 57, of Broxtowe, said she has faced post-op complications, family torn asunder, friends turning away, and dashed hopes of ever finding love, as she struggles to escape the shackles of once being a man.

She is concerned about the government's proposed reform of the Gender Recognition Act - which could see individuals self declare their gender without the need for medical evidence or proof.

At the moment, adults don't have to undergo surgery as a result, but must prove they have been living for two years as a male or female and have a doctor's diagnosis of gender dysphoria.

The new system would make it easier for people to change their identities, which Leanne believes is the wrong move to make.

Leanne, who used to be Lee, realised that she was not like the other boys when she was four years old.

"A lot of trans people feel they are trapped in the wrong body, but that was not the case with me," she said.

"I never had a sense of gender, I was just me. I was not boyish. I was not interested in what other boys did. I just associated with girls."

(Image: Leanne Mills)

It was the 1970s, in Bilborough, and Leanne felt she was "lumbered with the boys" at school when all she wanted to do was play with the girls.

"I was shy and withdrawn," she said. "I hated football. Boys thought I was strange and teased me. I got some bad beatings at home time.

"When the sound of the school bell rang, I knew I was in for a pasting. Every time I hear a bell now I get anxious and sweat. It's conditioned. I was an outsider and I only had one friend in the whole of the class."

Leanne longed for female company and was desperate to share "secrets and gossip" with them. She also loved the way girls looked and how they brushed their hair.

"If you wanted to get friendly with a girl they thought I was chatting them up," she said.

(Image: Leanne Mills)

"I had to suppress all my feelings and I became even more withdrawn and it is still with me today. I felt disconnected from the world around me."

Leanne was the only child. Her mum worked in retail while her father was a prison officer.

Both have passed away.

She attended Eastwood Comprehensive and it was during her teenage years that her yearning to be a girl became even stronger.

"I did not fancy boys but I did not fancy girls, I just preferred girls' company. I started to long to be one of the girls.

"I kept looking in the mirror - I had a girlish face and thought 'if only.' I could not face a whole life in the male form. I hated my body more and more."

(Image: Leanne Mills)

She said in 1977, she came across a book where she saw the word 'transexual' and where an operation was mentioned.

"I was jealous of girls - that was the body I wanted. I became so depressed and suicidal. I broke down on my 17th birthday and told my parents I wanted to be a girl and I wanted this operation."

She said her parents were supportive but she will never forget her father's words.

"I have got to level with you son, all they can do is take your thing off.' I said 'no that's not true, they can do more than that.' He said 'that is all they can do.'

"I wanted to die. I did not want to grow into a man."

But then hope arrived in the form of The Beaumont Society, a national self help group run by and for the transgender community.

She joined and met other people suffering with the same ordeal.

"Mum allowed me to buy clothing and I was told you can dress in your bedroom but we don't want to see you," she said.

Leanne left school at 18 without any exams and began working in a factory, but it didn't last long.

She applied to be in the RAF, passed the aptitude test, but failed overall.

She believed that "doing something masculine" would halt these feelings, but it didn't. She left home at 18 and began living in Birmingham.

She was able to dress like a woman more openly.

"I felt amazing. I saw a girl looking back in the mirror," she added.

(Image: Leanne Mills)

In 1980, she started to address herself as Leanne. In January, 1995, she had sex reassignment surgery on the NHS.

But she believes no matter how many pills she takes, and how much surgery she undergoes, she will never be a woman.

She said: "I had high hopes of finally realising my teenage dream when I left hospital on a winter's day in 1995. All was well for some years as I went regularly clubbing, working, living life.

"However it has all unravelled for me. Over time post-op complications, family torn asunder, friends turning away, society prejudice and hopes of ever finding love dashed, all because I cannot entirely escape the chains of my male origins.

"I must accept the harsh reality that no amount of drastic cutting of my body can ever alter my biology."

Talking about the proposed government reform, Leanne believes people should be careful about making the decision.

"I am a transgender woman, not a woman. Just like dad said. I know that I can never change my biology. There are a lot of trans people who would challenge that view.

(Image: Nottingham Post)

"I would not want others considering such a drastic irreversible decision to perhaps end up like me, lost in a twilight world of fear and loneliness and just wishing life would end.

"People think it is wonderful and cool to be trans. It is being painted as a rainbow with a pot of gold at the end but they are heading for disaster.

"It has not brought me what I dreamed. You can only be a copy. There are very few men and women that would be willing to spend their lives committed to a transsexual person.

"They should be made aware of all the risks I've presented and warned that for all the legal entitlement the proposed bill promises, it shall not bring public acceptance."