At just three years old, little Aly was a tomboy who would rather be outside playing football with the boys, while her older brother Russie, then 5, enjoyed playing dress up with the girls
A brother and sister have swapped genders after they came out to their parents as transgender just a month apart.
At just three years old, Aly McGarrity was a tomboy who would rather be outside playing football with the boys, while her older brother Russie, then 5, enjoyed playing dress up with the girls.
For Russ, the next few years would be hard, his mother Beth told Good Housekeeping.
At high school, he was bullied by his peers but refused to bow to pressure to conform and adopted an androgynous look.
Siblings Aly McGarrity, now known as Gavin (left) and Russie McGarrity, now known as Rai (right) are both transgender
'I would rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I am not,' he told his parents.
Mrs McGarrity, from Conneticut, says she always knew her children were a little different.
But she, and her husband Russ, became worried about their son who slowly spiraled into depression.
Mrs McGarrity said his school struggled to understand Russie's struggle and even threatened to expel him after he ran into the girl's toilets.
'I did not choose this for myself,' he had told her. 'I wish there was a way that I could not be this way.'
While the family were concerned with Rusie's struggle, unbeknownst to anyone, his sister was also struggling with her own identity.
Before and after: Aly (pictured left as a girl as a child, and today as a boy, right) says he was born the wrong gender and identifies as a boy. He will undergo breast removal surgery to next summer
Before and after: Russie (pictured as a schoolboy, left, and today as a woman, right) realized he was transgender just a month after his younger sibling did. He was already undergone facial surgery to appear more feminine
Aly had always been a bit of a tomboy but deep down she knew there was more to it.
After researching transgender on the internet, she said she realized that she had been born the wrong sex. She wanted to be a boy.
And it was Aly who took the brave step to come out to her parents first.
Just a few days before her 15th birthday, she broke the news to her brother that she was transgender.
Then, with Russie at her side, she broke the news to her mum.
'I've figured out what's going on with me,' she told her. 'I know that I'm transgender. I've always wanted to be a boy. I never told you this, but when I was little, I would go to sleep and wish that I'd wake up a boy.
'Every time we did the wishbone at Thanksgiving and I won, I would wish that I was a boy.'
A month later, Russie confessed that he too was transgender and both siblings, after receiving counselling, have decided to go ahead with gender reassignment surgery.
Today Russie, 20, is known as Rai, while Aly, 17, goes by the name Gavin.
But their parents said nothing had changed as far as how much they love their children.
Mrs McGarrity (second from left) said as far as she is concerned nothing has changed and she loves Rai (left) and Gavin (far right) as much as before
Russ McGarrity (pictured with Beth) said he had always hoped for a boy and a girl - and that is exactly what he had
Mrs McGarrity said: 'People ask me what I've lost, but I don't feel that I've lost anything. I have my son and daughter the way they should be.'
Gavin said that it had been his parents' unwavering support and unconditional support that had allowed him and his sister to become the people they wanted to be.
'Even in the years when (mum) didn't know what was going on, before I came out, I knew that all she cared about, at the end of the day, was me and Rai being happy,' he said.
Father Russ said he had always hoped to have a boy and a girl.
'As it so happened, we did have one of each — just in a different order than we originally thought,' he said.
Gavin is now due to undergo surgery to remove his breasts while Rai has already had a painful facial surgery to appear more feminine.
Rai, who has a boyfriend, also video blogs about her life as a transgender woman and has more than 6.5million views.
Around 0.3 per cent of Americans identify as transgender, according to Good Housekeeping.
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