Thomas was born into a family of twelve children in Ballyfermot. He had a grim childhood, he was bullied and humiliated at school, and all the time Thomas was hiding a dark secret that was buried so deep, not even he understood it.

Desperate to `fit in', he looked for answers in religion, work, even marriage. But through his struggle and despair he reached rock-bottom and eventually tried to take his own life.

Somehow, Thomas made his life worth fighting for. With the help of good friends and much soul-searching, he was able to have confirmed what he had somehow always known - that he had been born in the wrong body and that he was actually a woman. The medical diagnosis of gender identity disorder - a physical and neurological condition - has allowed Thomas to step out of the shadows and to face the world at last as Sara, the person he truly was all along.

In sharing her story of this little-known condition with honesty, compassion and humour, Sara-Jane Cromwell is a living example of triumph over overwhelming odds, and of a rare courage which will give hope to many, and inspiration to all.