I thought I was a boy until I got my period and grew breasts as a teenager – then I found out the truth

• Emma Lynn Dowd from Connecticut used to mimic boys at school to fit in 
• READ MORE: I’m a transgender woman – but I never feel the need to tell the men I date unless we’re going to have sex

A woman has shared her story of how she discovered she had both female and male sex organs – after believing she was a boy for nearly two decades.

Growing up, Emma Lynn Dowd, 44, from Connecticut, was encouraged to play with footballs and toy cars and take on other hobbies that are often considered stereotypically male by society.

However, when she was 18 years old, she found out she was intersex with both ovarian and testicular tissue on the outside and internally.

‘I have no idea why my parents decided to bring me up as a boy,’ Emma, now 44, said. And honestly, now, it doesn’t really matter.

‘Had I not had that experience I couldn’t have seen life through a man’s eyes, which at times has proven to be extremely helpful.

Emma Lynn Dowd (pictured), from Connecticut, has shared her remarkable story of how she discovered she had both female and male sex organs

Though Emma was raised as a boy by her parents, she often felt different from others during her childhood.

She said: ‘Growing up, it was very difficult because I had a feeling, I was different to other children – and my interests, desires, and thoughts were “girly”.

‘Therefore, I mimicked other boys to try to learn to be male.’

She added: ‘I never had gender dysmorphia, I was always ok with how I looked, but I would always be accused of being a “chick”.’

As a result, Emma was ‘severely’ bullied as a child for her differences.

The troubles didn’t ease throughout high school either.

She said: ‘High school was difficult. My body finally decided to go into puberty, and that was when I started seeing signs that I could be female.’

When Emma got her first period and began developing breasts, she was given testosterone tablets to stop the process.

Emma (pictured above in 2018 before transitioning into a woman) believed she was male for nearly two decades 

The 44-year-old was raised as a boy, and was encouraged to play with footballs and toy cars and take on other hobbies often considered stereotypically male by society

Emma considered the reaction from the doctors to be ‘very common back then.’

‘Some activists believe you should wait for the child to make the choice, but this is just what my parents thought of doing at the time,’ she said. 

What does it mean to be intersex? 

Intersex is a general term used for a variety of situations in which a person is born with reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn’t fit the boxes of ‘female’ or ‘male’.

Doctors always assign intersex babies a legal sex (male or female, in most states). 

But, just like with non-intersex people, that doesn’t mean that’s the gender identity they’ll grow up to have.

Being intersex is a naturally occurring variation in humans, and it isn’t a medical problem. 

Therefore, medical interventions (like surgeries or hormone therapy) on children usually aren’t medically necessary.

It wasn’t until Emma went off to college at 18 that she understood her anatomy was very different to that of other men in the locker room.

She said: ‘It was then I fully realized I was female.

‘I had mixed emotions; it validated the internal feelings and desires I had, and it confirmed for me that I wasn’t gay.

‘At the same time, I was horrified as I felt I had to hide my condition.

‘I felt like a hybrid and a freak.’

For years afterwards, Emma – who believed it was too late to ‘reverse’ her gender – carried on living as a man, until an accident in 2019 that would change her life forever.

She said: ‘It was early in the morning, and I was going to the playpen where I put my dog.

‘All of a sudden, I slipped and hit my head on a piece of PVC pipe sticking out of a rack.

‘It hit the very base of my skull, splitting it open.

‘I was still awake, so immediately took myself to the doctor.’

According to Emma, doctors told her the trauma to her head was weakening the testosterone production in her body.

Emma said: ‘[When 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 asked to be put on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to transition into a woman.

By 2021, Emma had long hair, was getting her period again and had developed breasts. Now, she has fully transitioned into a woman 

 Emma enjoys life as a woman- and her name is the one her mother had planned to give her if she had been born a girl 

After transitioning into a woman, Emma can live life ‘anger-free’ and generally ‘happy’ about life

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.’

By 2021, Emma had long hair, was getting her period again and had developed breasts.

She said: ‘I also got a name change, to the name my mother had planned to give me if I was born a girl.

‘I have never spoken to my parents about why they brought me up as a boy, because in my mind, they made a choice out of love.

‘I do not blame anyone for it. My parents have been supportive of my transition, and we’ve talked about things, we’re on good terms now, Emma added’

‘My friends have been very supportive – there were a few who were “weirded out” but I don’t speak to them anymore.

She concluded: ‘I am me now, I want to live an anger-free and happy life without any grudges towards anyone.’

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