In the spring of 2006, Una was cleaning her home when she stumbled upon a set of items that didn’t belong to her: a dress, a pair of high heels, and two credit cards—one in her husband Paul’s name, the other in the name “Elizabeth.”
Immediately, she assumed infidelity. But when she confronted Paul, his response shattered her world: “Those are mine. I think I’m a woman.”
How It All Began: A Love Story with a Handsome Stranger
Una came from a wealthy background and met Paul through a sailing club. He was 19 years older, a newly practicing architect, twice divorced, and financially unstable. Yet, Una was instantly captivated. “He was handsome,” she recalls. 
Despite his past, Una believed in their future. “I thought if someone is decent and has passion, wealth doesn’t matter. I couldn’t think of a reason not to marry him.”
Building a Family and the Illusion of Bliss
Their early married life was joyful. Within three years, they had two children—a boy and a girl. But one question lingered in Una’s mind: why had Paul’s previous marriages failed?
It didn’t take long for the cracks to show. Paul, though charming and composed on the surface, was emotionally distant and incapable of sustaining intimacy. “He was never responsible,” Una says. “He couldn’t maintain any close relationship.”
A Loving Husband Turns Cold and Cruel
Over time, Paul became sarcastic and verbally abusive. “He started mocking me constantly,” Una recalls. “He was trying to drive a wedge between us, to sabotage our marriage.”
Una tried desperately to save what they had. But while she was fighting for the relationship, Paul was withdrawing further. He shut himself in the living room with his computer, refusing to help with bills or spend time with the children.
The Day the Truth Came Out
Everything changed one afternoon in March 2006. Una laid Paul’s hidden items on the kitchen table. “I asked him whose they were. I expected him to say, ‘My girlfriend’s.’ But he just said, ‘They’re mine.’”
Days later, while walking past a subway station, Paul suddenly said, “They really are mine. I’m transgender.”
Una was stunned. “I didn’t understand the weight of what he said. But for him, it was a moment of release.”
Three months later, Paul left the family and cut off all contact.
Years of Legal Battles and Emotional Chaos
Una was left to hold everything together. She fought hard to retain her inherited house while caring for their children. During one visit, Paul—now identifying as Elizabeth—refused to engage with her. When Una reached for a pair of scissors and pleaded to cut his long hair, he became enraged.
He pushed her against a wall, scratched her trousers, and threatened to call the police. She apologized and left with the kids, thinking it was just another marital fight.
But weeks later, police arrived at her door. Paul, now legally Elizabeth, had reported her for assault. Una was arrested for domestic violence and warned by authorities.
“That was the final straw,” Una says. “He was never coming back.”
The Legal Transition and the End of a Marriage
By 2014, Paul had obtained a Gender Recognition Certificate, legally becoming Elizabeth. Their divorce was finalized.
During the proceedings, Elizabeth revealed details of her troubled past. As a child at an all-boys school, she had been sexually abused by the headmaster and forced to wear women’s clothing by an aunt. Her parents’ bitter divorce had ended with her mother being kicked out.
Una was shocked. “He went through a lot, but never told me—not in over 20 years of marriage.”
At age 70, Elizabeth underwent gender reassignment surgery and moved to another city, severing all family ties.
A Tragic and Mysterious End
In 2022, Elizabeth reunited with her second wife. Shortly after, while cleaning windows, she fell from a second-story window and died at 84.
Authorities ruled the death accidental, but Una suspects suicide. “I sent a letter to the police outlining her mental state,” she explains.
Elizabeth’s final will excluded their children entirely. “They didn’t ask to be born. He brought them into this world, then abandoned them.”
From Survivor to Advocate
Today, Una is a fierce advocate for women’s rights. She aligns with J.K. Rowling on the importance of biological sex in law and policy.
She founded Trans Widows, a support group for women whose husbands come out as transgender during marriage.
Her home is covered in press clippings documenting legal victories, including those affirming the legal definition of “woman” as biological.
Una campaigns to repeal the UK’s Gender Recognition Act 2004, which allows legal gender change.
“When children are told they were born in the wrong body,” she says, “I tell them: You only get one body. You can cut off parts of it, but every cell still says XX or XY.”
Why Her Story Matters
Una now speaks out for so-called “trans widows”—women left behind by husbands who transition. “This isn’t just about gender,” she says. “It’s about honesty, family, and the trauma left in the shadows.”
