Caroline Cossey

Biography Early life and transition Cossey was born in Brooke, Norfolk, England and was assigned male at birth. Unbeknownst to Cossey and her family until later in her life, she was born with XXXY syndrome. Growing up, Cossey's closest companion was her sister, Pam, with whom she played dress-up in their mother's clothes. Cossey left formal schooling when she was fifteen and found work in a clothing store and as a butcher's apprentice. At sixteen, she moved to London and worked at a variety of low-wage jobs. Lynam however mentions going on dates with her in his autobiography. Cossey worked as a model under the name "Tula". She appeared in top magazines such as Australian Vogue and Harper's Bazaar, and worked extensively as a glamour model. She was a Page Three Girl for the British tabloid The Sun and appeared in Playboy in 1991. Shortly after the film's release, the tabloid News of the World came out with a front-page headline "James Bond Girl Was a Boy". By her own accounts, Cossey was so upset she contemplated suicide. However, she continued her modelling career by focusing, once again, on smaller assignments.

Continued career In 1985, Cossey appeared in the videos for The Power Station's "Some Like It Hot" and "Get It On".

She was featured in the September 1991 issue of Playboy in the pictorial "The Transformation of Tula", as an acknowledged transgender person.

Autobiography In 1991, Cossey released My Story, which was her second and final autobiography. In it, she gave details of her transition, her relationship with Fattal, and her unsuccessful battle with the European Court of Human Rights.

Personal life Cossey became engaged to Count Glauco Lasinio, an Italian advertising executive, who was the first man to date her knowing of her past. He encouraged her to petition for changes in the British law concerning transsexuals. The engagement ended, but her legal efforts continued for seven years, eventually reaching the European Court of Human Rights.

First marriage Cossey met Elias Simon Fattal, a British Israeli property investor, in 1985, in London. Fattal, who suffered from polymyalgia rheumatica, was looking into alternative medicine to relieve his pain and was referred to Cossey, who was studying acupuncture. She was 31 and he was 43. They began a relationship and she kept that she was a transgender woman from him. After Fattal proposed to her in 1988, on Valentine's Day, Cossey came out to him and Fattal did not break off their engagement. In preparation for their married life together, Cossey converted to Judaism and the two discussed the possibility of using Cossey's sister as an egg donor. The two married on 21 May 1989, at the Liberal Jewish Synagogue in St John's Wood, London, in a ceremony performed by Rabbi David J. Goldberg, OBE, and honeymooned in Acapulco and Jamaica. They returned to England on June 11, 1989, unaware that News of the World, a British tabloid, had run an article about their marriage under the headline "Sex Change Page Three Girl Weds" while they were abroad. Cossey and Fattal hadn't told his immediate family members, who were Orthodox Jews from Iraq, she was transgender, fearing they would react badly to the news. According to Cossey, Fattal went to speak with his parents in person after they saw the article and she never heard from him again. Fattal's brother William called her to tell her the marriage was going to be annulled. Cossey received no alimony or assets from her relationship with Fattal.

Legal petitions On 27 September 1990, the European Court of Human Rights overturned its prior decision, following a British government appeal. They currently reside in Kennesaw, Georgia.

Published works Cossey has published two autobiographies: