Though envying the freedom boys had physically and socially, and, as a child, trying to be as boylike as possible, I have never rejected being female. But like Jack Monroe (Being trans isn’t a phase you go through, 20 May), I felt dismayed as I lost my prepubescent body. Small breasts might have been acceptable, but I was blessed with large ones, which I tried to disguise with loose tops. Last year, on turning 70, a second bout of cancer resulted in my losing both breasts. Without them I feel younger and happy in my body for the first time in my life since childhood. My heterosexual marriage is a happy one and has not been affected. The only person upset was my wonderful surgeon, who had looked forward to reconstructing me.
Vaughan Melzer
London
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