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Rebecca, now a tireless campaigner for the HIV charity the Terrence Higgins Trust, said it was making love to a man for the first time that made her feel truly female. She added: 'I made love as a woman for the first time aged 31, and I finally thought, "This is me". I'd dealt with so much heartache and humiliation to get to where I was. But Rebecca - who fortunately defied her pessimistic two-year prognosis - still had a long way to go before her life was back on track.
Taking medication for HIV, she supported herself any which way she could - even working as a madam in a male brothel in Amsterdam, Holland. Then, in , after she was hospitalised twice for an drug overdose, she woke up to the damage her hedonistic lifestyle was doing to her and got sober - then penning her life story in , although she omitted any detail about having HIV. She said: 'For a long time, I didn't tell anybody about my diagnosis. I wanted to out myself without being victimised.
Telling people was one of the scariest things I have ever done, but now I am finally out of the shadows. It isn't just something sex workers or gay people get — it can happen to anyone.
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Meanwhile, when she was 51, Rebecca returned to Ireland to reconnect with her family. They'd lost a son and brother — but now had this daughter and sister in his place. They were very supportive and told me they loved me no matter what though. Deciding to stay in Ireland, Rebecca got a job performing as a hostess, nicknamed Lady V, at a Dublin club. Talking to a colleague about her life one day, it was mentioned that a girl who worked in the ticket kiosk had a transgender father, who had gone to London years before. Unbelievably, that woman turned out to be Rebecca's daughter, who she soon reconnected with.
Having her back in my life has made every part of my journey worthwhile. Just a year later, though, Rebecca's health deteriorated and she was admitted to hospital with pneumonia, having run out of her HIV medication, but been worried about getting more from doctors back in Ireland, as nobody there knew she had the condition. So, Rebecca raced back to London's Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, where she had been treated before.
She said: 'I'd survived everything else — why not this? I ended up being a very sorry girl indeed, though. Rebecca moved back to London and, by , she was declared 'undetectable' — meaning the HIV virus levels in her body are so low, that blood tests do not pick it up. Finally at peace, she wanted to use her own astonishing experiences to help others. Rebecca has worked with the Terrence Higgins Trust, learning essential skills through their Work Positive programme, before landing a job with their Soho Outreach branch.
Currently, there is a global target to end HIV of , and so many people believe that it can be ended in the UK even sooner. For information, visit www. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. Argos AO. Share this article Share. I met with and spoke to transgender people who'd had gender reassignment surgery and it was hugely emotional to realise that's what I was, and what I wanted, too.
Transgender woman who was the first in Ireland to receive reassignment surgery knew aged 3
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