Man and wife who became wife and wife after Couple renew their wedding vows when husband comes out as a transgender woman called Melissa

Amy Frary (left) was shocked when her husband Gary came out as transgender, and wanted to be known as Melissa (right), but now the couple are happier than ever. Amy Frary from Norfolk had been with her husband Gary for nearly a decade, but had no idea he had struggled with gender identity issues since the age of 12. When Gary came out to her in March, telling her he wanted to be known as Melissa, Amy (with Melissa, left) felt shocked and rejected, but having built a life with her husband, she tried to understand what he was going through. Now the couple (pictured right with their daughter Laila, eight, and Amy's son Sam, 16) are happier than ever before, and are even planning on renewing their wedding vows next year. 

Now the couple are happier than ever before, and are even planning on renewing their wedding vows next year, with both of them wearing white bridal gowns.

 She said;

'When Gary first came out to me as transgender, I thought our marriage was over,'

'But he was the love of my life and I wanted to give us a chance. When the kids went to bed, we would go out on dates with Gary dressed as a woman.

'It was like getting to know your partner all over again and it took time for me to develop those feelings of attraction again.

'But now, it's so much nicer being married to Melissa. We are happier than ever.'

Melissa, 33, added: 'Things are better now than they have ever been. I'm not hiding anything anymore.

'We want to celebrate our marriage and our beautiful kids when we renew our wedding vows next year. We'll both wear wedding dresses too.' 

The pair, from Norfolk, met in 2006, after they became friends through Amy's brother.

'Gary and I instantly clicked,' said Amy, who is a full-time mother. 'We had such a laugh together.'

Four months later, Gary moved in with Amy and her two sons, Sam, 16, and Dylan, 13, from a previous relationship.

And the following year Amy gave birth to the couple's daughter, Laila, before they tied the knot in a traditional wedding at their local church in 2013.

He husband said:

'When I was 12, I would steal my sisters clothes and secretly cross-dress,' delivery driver Melissa explained. 'This continued as I got older when I would sometimes take Amy's clothes and wear them secretly too.

'However I was unsure whether I was transgender. I loved Amy and mistakenly, I thought you had to be attracted to men to be transgender.

'All my life, I just thought I had an impulse to cross-dress. But all of a sudden a year ago, all those feelings came to a head and it became apparent to me that I was transgender and I wanted to become a woman.

'I realised that was who I am and there was no going back for me.'

But with this realisation, Gary sank into a deep depression and even considered committing suicide.

'I felt I was betraying Amy because of how I was feeling and I didn't think anyone would accept me as a woman,' Melissa said.

'I contemplated taking my own life. By Christmas 2014, I had planned out how I would kill myself and I had even written a suicide note.

'But I couldn't bear the thought of never seeing Amy and the kids again.'

Amy said she knew that her husband was depressed and unhappy, but she had no idea why.  

'For years, our relationship had been so good and relaxed and easy,' she said. 'We used to be able to talk so freely with one another but now everything had changed.'