Sex Reassignment Surgery

After years of feeling uncomfortable with his male body, Billy finally came up with a solution: he underwent sex reassignment surgery to become the woman he had always felt he was. However, the change didn’t bring him the relief he had sought, and neither did it solve any of his problems. After seven years of being a woman, Billy reverted back to being a man.

Sex reassignment surgery is now almost a commonplace procedure, but back in the early 20th century, it was seen as 'science fiction surgery'. When the news broke of a successful first attempt, it was a sensation. This is the gripping story of three extraordinary people: the world's first person to undergo a female to male transition; the former Spitfire pilot who became Britain's first to transition from male to female; and the daring advanced plastic surgeon who carried out these surgeries in the 1940s.