Stephanie Vaughan

WORKSHOP

Born in Yorkshire, England, in 1961 (the youngest of three boys) Stephanie was aware of being different, especially about her gender, from an early age.  At 13, instead of entering a male puberty Stephanie developed as a girl. She developed breasts, had no body hair, no Adams Apple and her voice didn’t change. She was lied to about the reasons by her parents and medical professionals.

In 2006 Stephanie emigrated to WA and in 2012, while being treated for a thyroid issue, it was discovered that she was producing a huge amount of oestrogen. After lots of tests, when no logical reason was found she was accused of self inflicting oestrogen by an endocrinologist in Perth. Thankfully her GP didn’t believe the endocrinologist and asked her to get her health records from the UK National Health Service.  What she was given was a very censored version. Her GP was suspicious and sent her to a gender specialist who told her that she is Intersex/Hermaphrodite and had been born with both male and female genitalia and surgically modified at birth to be a boy. Sadly, Stephanie’s head and heart knew she should be a girl. After a very dark 8 months she made the decision to transition to the girl she should always have been, albeit 56 years later.

Throughout her transition Stephanie posted regularly on her blog, steps2stephanie.com, and then in 2021 published a book called ‘Half Him Half Her’.  The book not only takes you through her journey but she hopes it raises awareness of the issues intersex and transgender people face.  She now combines her passion for educating (through public speaking) on these issues whilst working in her own Property Maintenance business.