ICWales.ICNetwork.co.uk – by Peter Collins, South Wales Echo
For most of his life, 46-year-old Andrew Cross has been tortured by the feeling that inside his man?s body and mind a woman has been aching to get out.
Suppressing the almost overwhelming feelings he had of being a woman led the former chef in the Royal Naval Reserve to sink into the depths of depression.
From his early 40s he suffered Bipolar Affective Disorder, often known as manic depression, which saw his moods swing like a pendulum from abject despair to sublime elation.
Various treatments and medication for the disorder helped for short periods, but the underlying cause ? his need to be a woman ? remained.
That was until December 12 last year when Andrew John Cross, of Barry, decided to become Anne-Marie Cross, of Barry.