Couple who have been married for more than four decades vow to remain together – despite the husband transitioning into a woman (but they admit they haven’t been intimate since)
Steff, born Steve, revealed how she had transitioned after 45 years of marriage
A COUPLE who have been married for more than four decades have stayed together - despite the husband transitioning into a woman.
Steff Barnett, who met his wife Lynne Hogan when he was 16, told the BBC's Inside Out how she had spent 40 years living as Steve.
She was married to Lynne, 62, but realised something was not right.
Eventually she realised the problem - she was a gay woman, trapped in a man's body.
Steff, who has two grown-up sons, began transitioning in 2013 having dressed in women's clothing since her youth.
She said her and Lynne, who remain married, had no physical relationship.
She told the BBC: "Lynne misses her husband desperately.
"The guilt was horrific, I felt as though I'd let Lynne down - I love her passionately even now.
"She's stayed by me, she was brave enough to do that, even though she's just about lost her husband."
Lynne added: 'I'm not in her head to understand to see how she thinks. And she's not in my head to feel what I've lost.
'I knew there was no turning back but I love Steve enough to know this was the only way to let Steff through.
Steff confessed she had not been intimate with Lynne since transitioning.
"I miss the intimacy. I really do. But Lynne can't make that leap," she said.
And Lynne said she "misses having a man's arms around her".
In the interview with the BBC the couple confirmed they would stay together.
'Our marriage certificate still says Steve Barnett and Lynne Hogan and as far as I'm concerned that is a sacred piece of paper to me and that's how it will always be," Lynne said.
"We've had a hell of a journey. Ups and downs, good and bad and I just can't see us just not being together.
"You just count your blessings and think that things could be so much worse. I'm one of the lucky ones."
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