Two identical twins who used to cry and pray to God that they would wake up in a male body finally got what the wished for after understanding that being transgender was a thing.
Jack and Jace Grafe were born in June 1995, and grew up in Baltimore, Maryland in a conservative Christian home, before moving to Monroe, Georgia.
The twins had the same DNA, have grown facial hair since they began taking testosterone in April 2017 and underwent chest surgery in August.
Both graduated from the criminal justice graduates, and both work in law enforcement.
They shared their extraordinary story in a bid to inspire others as Jack, who is now a deputy sheriff’s officer, said:
“As a kid I would cry and pray to God that I would wake up in a male body, not even understanding that being transgender was a thing.
“Now, I am the happiest with myself that I have been in my entire life. That uncomfortable feeling we had before has completely gone. “When we came out, it was to our whole family – mum, dad and our older sister.
“Our parents had never seen anything like it. They have never experienced gay or transgender people and my dad is a pastor. We live in Georgia. “At work, I have had my fair share of people calling me a ‘s***’ – she, he, it. Usually, they just don’t understand.
“People still refer to us as female. Whenever I hear ‘she’ or ‘her’ it is like a kick in the stomach. “It hurts but I get it. At a young age, I was skeptical of it myself. For some people, it is a hard pill to swallow. “There are times when I wish I was just born – and I don’t mean this in a negative way -but ‘normal’, and that I was biologically male.
Jace, who just started in the police academy, also as a deputy officer added:
“Honestly, the twin thing has helped. “If I was to go back to when I was 15 or 16 I would never think in a million years that I would have got to this point.”It was a fantasy and I always wished it was going to happy but I wasn’t brave enough. I didn’t have the guts.
“Being a twin means I don’t feel alone. Somebody else is experiencing the exact same things as I am going through and that made me stronger.”
Despite not coming out until adulthood and keeping their gender identity secret from each other, both twins felt the same way – that they were male, not female.
It is tough understanding these things until you meet people who are in real life victims