My ex-boyfriend is now a woman': Couple ties the knot 20 years later She's the same person': After coming out as a transgender woman, Zo Chowney reconnected with her ex, Sandra Onate and they got married!
by Naledi de Wee
10-07-2022 17:27
in LGBTQIA+
Zo Chowney, after coming out as a transgender woman, reconnected with her ex-partner Sandra Onate and the two tied the knot! Image via Instagram @zoechowney
Mike Chowney met Sandra Onate in Bogota, Colombia in 1998 but their romantic relationship ended years later when they decided to go their separate ways. Mike, who now identifies as a transgender woman who goes by Zo , reunited with Sandra 20 years later and Sandra was shocked to learn that her ex-boyfriend was now a woman.
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ZO CHOWNEY'S TRANSGENDER JOURNEY Speaking to The Daily Mail, Zo Chowney (formerly Mike Chowney) said she suffered from gender dysphoria and has a secret cache of women's clothes that she would wear in private when she still identified as a man.
After Chowney separated from Sandra Onate in 2000, the two married different people and led their own lives, but the 51-year-old's gender dysphoria still haunted her in 2014. A year later, Chowney was admitted to the hospital and was referred to the Cross Gender Identity Clinic in London.
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I was naively hoping that with anti-depressants and specialist counselling, I could keep my life together, recalled Zoe.
Why would I want to transition? I'd be moving from the most privileged demographic an affluent middle-class, straight, white male to the most marginalised group in a society: a trans woman. Why would anyone choose to do that?
REUNITING WITH SANDRA ONATE After visiting the Gender Identity Clinic in 2015, Chowney's wife supported her transition but ultimately made the decision to get a divorce and together they broke the news to their two children. She finalised her transition in March 2017 and reunited with Sandra Onate through a professional network.
My ex-boyfriend is now a woman, said Sandra when she reconnected with Zoe.
As Zo , I hoped that we could rekindle our closeness as female friends. How lovely and what a privilege that would be! recalled Chowney.
Had I been male and divorced, I'd never have contacted her. But this was very different.
Chowney and Sandra became friends and in September 2018 they kissed again for the first time in more than a decade.
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It's hard to explain but it was both reassuringly familiar and wonderfully new, she said.
ALSO READ: Officially married': First same-sex couples say I do' in Switzerland
TYING THE KNOT Chowney and Sandra tied the knot in August 2020 at a small register office ceremony but they will have all their family and friends gather for a ceremony in Valencia, Spain for a wedding.
In an interview with Prima Magazine, Sandra said her wedding day was the best day of her life .
Seeing her again felt so natural and magical once more. She's the same person I fell in love with 20 years ago, only even more beautiful, more open and wiser.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Zo Chowney (@zoechowney)
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View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Zo Chowney (@zoechowney)
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My ex-boyfriend is now a woman': Couple ties the knot 20 years later She's the same person': After coming out as a transgender woman, Zo Chowney reconnected with her ex, Sandra Onate and they got married!
