INSIDE EDITION was there for transgender teen, Arin Andrews, as he got the surgery on his chest he always wanted.
A teenage boy is getting prepped for surgery. It’s an operation he has dreamed about his whole life. Arin Andrews is having a mastectomy. He is no way your typical teenage boy.
He told INSIDE EDITION, “I was born a girl.”
Arin is getting love and support from his girlfriend, Katie. Katie Hill is the only person in his life who can understand what he's going through.
She told INSIDE EDITION, “I was born a boy.”
They are a modern day Romeo and Juliette. Arin and Katie broke ground as America’s first openly transgender teen couple.
He said, “She is the perfect woman for me.”
Arin loves his motorcycles and just about anything with an engine and power. But as much he looks and acts like a rough and tumble 17-year-old boy, he still couldn't do what every boy takes for granted.
“I've never taken my shirt off before,” he said.
Beneath his shirt, wrapped up tight and concealed were female breasts.
“I couldn't go on living that lie,” he said.
He was born a sweet little girl named Emerald. His mom, Denise, still has a closet full of his old pageant dresses.
Last year, Emerald changed her name to Arin and began taking male testosterone shots. A young girl's soft silky skin is no more. Arin now has a coarse beard.
He's gone through a complete gender reversal. So has Katie, who now shaves her legs to keep them feminine and smooth.
Now a leggy brunette, Katie was born an adorable little boy his folks named Lucas.
She said, “I didn't want to look at myself in the mirror. I thought I was a freak. I thought I was ugly.”
The wish to live life as a woman pushed Lucas to the edge.
“I sat my mom down and said ‘Tonight is the night. I’ll kill myself tonight if you don't help me,’” she said.
Last year, Katie underwent sex change surgery.
Then a pair of unlikely cupids, their moms, set them up on a blind date.
Katie said, "I like my mom played match maker, just like every mom she wants to know who their kids are dating."
Last month, Arin was finally ready to make the huge transition. Arin and his family traveled 1,000 miles from their home in Tulsa to Cleveland’s Metro Health Hospital.
Dr. Daniel Medalie went over the procedure. Arin wasn’t concerned about the scars.
He said, “The scars are better than having boobs.”
After a kiss from mom, he was wheeled into the O.R. where Dr. Medalie began the mastectomy and began sculpting his chest.
Dr. Medalie said, “The muscle will be completely unaffected by this operation. This is an aesthetic operation. It is designed to make his chest more masculine.”
Arin was wheeled out to recovery where his family was waiting.
Now, a month after surgery he is ready to reveal his new manly chest. Off went his shirt and Katie couldn't be more impressed.
After picking out a new bikini for Katie, he publicly took his shirt off for the first time at a nearby lake.
He said, “I passed the man test.”
No one can tell that she was once a boy and he was once a girl.
He said, “I can finally stick my chest out. I feel amazing.”
Katie said, “I think he looks fantastic.”
