‘From now on, I was in an LGBTQ+ family’: my husband came out as trans while I was on maternity leave

I'd chosen an unconventional partner, and we both bristled at gender stereotypes. But I had sensed a distance between us, and it wasn't just new parenthood

Today I sat on a bench facing the sea and sobbed my heart out. I don't know if I will ever recover. This is a note on my phone, written on 9 November 2017.

I forgot about it for a couple of years, but I remember typing it as if it were yesterday. The gulls squawked and the sun dipped into the sea. I had been sitting there so long my hands were too cold to type. I put my phone into my coat pocket, and turned the buggy to face home.