They didn't share their struggles with one another until they were teens.
A pair of Georgia identical twins have now transitioned to male together.
Brothers Jack and Jace Grafe, 23, of Georgia, were born in 1995 as Jaclyn and Jennifer but as time went on, it became apparent to both of them, separately, that they felt more comfortable as men.
The pair, who legally became males in September, said they finally feel like themselves.
"Now, I am the happiest with myself that I have been in my entire life," Jack said. "That uncomfortable feeling we had before has completely gone.”
The brothers remembered crying themselves to sleep as children and hoping they would wake up as boys, they said. They grew up in a religious household with a father who was a pastor. At age 18, they came out to their entire family.
"Our parents had never seen anything like it," Jack said. "They have never experienced gay or transgender people."
The twins made the decision to begin taking testosterone in April 2017 and underwent chest surgery the following August. But before then, the twins had even kept their gender identities a secret from each other.
"I was scared because I held my twin's opinion higher than anybody else so if he didn't accept me, I would be devastated," Jace said.
They came out to each other as gay at 16 and then as transgender at 18.
Jace found out Jack was transgender through a Facebook post on his profile.
"Being a twin means I don't feel alone," Jace said. “Somebody else is experiencing the exact same things as I am going through and that made me stronger."
The twins, who are both police officers now, are both in relationships with women and they hope their story inspires others.
Recent studies suggest identical twins are more likely to simultaneously experience gender dysphoria than non-identical twins, according to reports.
"The best way I can describe it is to imagine one of the biggest insecurities you've had for a long time and all of a sudden it's just gone,” Jack said.
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