Wentworth star: 'I was born a boy'
After years of keeping it a secret, Wentworth star Daniielle Alexis has revealed she was born a boy.
Taking to Instagram on Monday, the 31-year-old actress, who plays Dana Malouf in the Australian drama, informed fans she "lived two lives as two people and lived a journey that not many people would understand".
"Over a year ago I decided to myself that I would have the courage to not only stand up for my LGBT community and transgender rights, but that I would follow my dream to be an actress," she added, explaining it was this career decision that prompted her to tell her story.
Speaking to Woman's Day magazine, Daniielle reveals her original name was Shayne, but that "I've felt like a girl on the inside from the very start".
Throughout her childhood, she dressed as a girl and "collected My Little Ponies", being shown support by her mother, but unfortunately not her father.
She was also constantly teased at school.
"When I dressed as a girl and wore makeup, I knew it needed to happen behind closed doors," Daniielle tells the publication.
The actress reveals she began hormone therapy after high school, and her mother was very supportive, emotionally and financially, when it came to her sexual reassignment surgery.
Having had breast and penile reassignment surgery, Daniielle is living the life she's always wanted, and is keen to become a mother one day.
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"I obviously don't menstruate and can't have a baby, but I plan on being a mother through surrogacy one day," she says.
Daniielle joined the cast of Foxtel drama Wentworth for its fifth season, starring on the show alongside the likes of series regulars Danielle Cormack and Nicole da Silva.
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