Caroline Cossey
| Caroline Cossey | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Barry Kenneth Cossey 31 August 1954 Brooke, Norfolk, England |
| Other names | Tula |
| Spouse(s) | Elias Fattal (1989) David Finch (1992-present) |
| Modelling information | |
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Hair colour | Brown |
| Eye colour | Green |
Caroline "Tula" Cossey (born 31 August 1954) is an English model. She is one of the world's best knowntrans women, having appeared in a James Bond film and having been the first to pose for Playboy. Since being outed by British tabloid News of the World, Cossey has fought for her right to legally marry and to be recognised by the law as a woman.
Cossey was born Barry Kenneth Cossey in Brooke, Norfolk, and raised as male. Through puberty, Cossey was distinctly feminine in appearance due to a variant of an intersex condition known as Klinefelter's syndrome, where, instead of having the XY male chromosome pattern, she possesses the genotype XXXY (people with Klinefelter's syndrome usually have XXY). In Cossey's autobiography My Story, she describes an unhappy childhood, where she suffered confusing feelings and bullying by peers due to her femininity. Growing up, Cossey's closest companion was her sister, Pam, with whom she played dress up in their mother's clothes. Cossey left formal schooling when she was fifteen, and found work in a clothing store and as a butcher's apprentice. At sixteen she moved to London and worked at a variety of low-wage jobs.
Cossey started transitioning after befriending a post-operative trans woman. By 17, Cossey was receiving hormone therapy, living full-time in a female gender role and had begun a career as a showgirl at a London nightclub. Despite initial shock, Cossey's parents were eventually supportive. Following breast augmentation surgery, Cossey worked as a showgirl in Paris and as a topless dancer in Rome to save up for sex reassignment surgery (SRS). After years of hormonal and psychological treatment, and legally changing her name, Cossey had her final surgery on 31 December 1974 at Charing Cross Hospital, London.
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