When Massachusetts twins Caleb and Emmie Smith were born in 1998, it was hard to tell them apart. Today Emmie says, “When we were 12, I didn’t feel like a boy, but I didn’t know it was possible to be a girl.” At 17 Emmie came out as transgender, and recently she underwent gender-confirmation surgery. She plays down its significance: “I was no less of a woman before it, and I’m no more of one today.”

Her story is part of the National Geographic article titled “How Science Is Helping Us Understand Gender,” which looks to science to help navigate the shifting landscape of gender identity.

Read more about Emmie’s story in this article by writer Nina Strochlic:
In the Operating Room During Gender Reassignment Surgery

Video and photographs by Lynn Johnson
Edited by Gabrielle Ewing
Produced by photo editor Todd James, senior producer Edythe McNamee, producer Kathryn Carlson, and associate producer Gabrielle Ewing

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