Amelia Maltepe

When did you realize that you wanted to live as a transsexual?
Amelia: It was on Halloween, a year and a half ago. I dressed up as a girl, and after I dressed up I started getting attention. I just thought, that's what I want to be.

How did your friends and family react to the news?
Oh my. I had a problem with my family in the beginning when I told them. Probably for two or three months I had problems. Then after my mother told me: “Well, If you like it, then do whatever you want to do, whatever makes you happy.” So now I have no problems with my family. They are very supportive and my friends are all the same. I have very good friends, and my boyfriend especially. He's very supportive.

Are your family still in Bangladesh, or do they live here in Canada?
I don't have any family here in Canada. They're all back home. Every two or three days I am in contact with my family. My father called me last night. I don't have any problems with my family.

What’s your relationship with your boyfriend like?
I dressed up as a woman on October 31st in 2011 and I met him in the first week of November, so he knew me as a transvestite. Like, when I was dressed up, but not living as a girl completely. Then we started dating and we have been together for a year and a half now. He already told his family about me and they are OK with it.

So when you met him, would he have identified as gay or bisexual?
No, I don't think he would have called himself gay. I am the first transsexual relationship he's had. Before, he was in relationships with girls. This is the first time he's gotten together with somebody like me. I would call him maybe bisexual, but still, he doesn't go with men.

How did you end up becoming the Sunshine girl?
I saw some of the newspapers. Afterwards, when I saw it, I said “Oh, why don't I try to do it.” So I filled out the form, and then I emailed it to them. And they replied to me and I went and I did the photo shoot. I didn't know it would be controversial. I didn't have anything like that in mind and they didn't ask me about my sexuality or whether I'm transsexual or not. If somebody doesn’t ask me, I don't have to tell, right?

Were you worried that they might find out and pull the plug on the shoot?
I'm confident about myself. I am never afraid in public, and I know that people don't know. People don't realize, so I was not afraid that something like that would happen. So I did the photo shoot.

Was the transition to doing that as a transsexual fairly easy?
I'm very happy that I did it and I don't have any problems because I'm more confident. When I was a guy, I wasn’t very confident. I was a cute boy. I was still beautiful, but after I did my sex change, it changed my life.

So, excuse me for asking this, but are you pre-op or post-op at the moment?
I still have my thing.

Were you worried, during the photo shoot, that the photographer might notice?
No, no. There is no way they could notice. How could someone notice? I could do a bikini shoot. I go to the beach, people don't notice. They don't see. I have my own underwear I can put on. Nobody would see.

Have you heard about the “KEEP SUNSHINE GIRLS AS WOMEN NOT TRANNIES” petition that your photo inspired?
I don't who made that, but I think this is very stupid whoever is doing it. It doesn't really bother me or make me feel bad. I know about myself, I am a very confident person. It didn't bother me for one second.

Are people ever shocked when they find out you're a transsexual?
My close friends know and they are my friends, so it's not a problem. In public, I go to the gym, I go to clubs, I go out, and people never realize. They see me as a beautiful girl. You saw my pictures, right? In real life, people never even think that. I don't need to tell anybody. If they ask me, I don't need to tell, because I have a boyfriend, so I don't need to get into that with anybody.

Do you end up surprising people?
With my close friends' friends, sometimes I say “Well, you know I'm transsexual” and people get shocked. They think I'm joking, but no, I'm not joking. I'm serious. But I have a few friends who are transsexual, and they talk about how they feel, so I know about that. People look at them a certain way. When they walk down the street, people make comments. I understand what they're going through, but I've never had that feeling.

On the Sunshine Girl bio, you say you want to be Miss World, were you inspired at all by Jenna Talackova's bid to be Miss Universe?
Yeah, I always wanted it, from the beginning, but I was not sure if I could do it. But after she came out, yeah, she inspired me.

Do you plan on having a full sex change later?
Honestly, I'm not thinking about that presently. I don't know what's going to happen in five years or ten years. I really don't know what's going to happen, but I don't think about that right now. I talked to my doctors, I talked to my friends. If I did that, my sex life would be finished. I won't have an orgasm and I won't feel like a real girl feels, even if I have a vagina. I won't feel it, so why do I need to do it?

Recently Married Transsexual Actress Yasmin Lee Honeymooning At Hawaii

Nikki Finds Her Love Again

Incredible as it may sound, she was born a boy named Justin. Growing up, his childhood was marked by confusion.

In 1996 at age 21, Justin legally changed his name to Nikki and began living as a woman.

Nikki told INSIDE EDITION, "It was very confusing. You grow up feeling like a little girl, but are told you're a boy."

Then, love struck when Nikki met and married firefighter, Thomas Araguz III.

"I loved him tremendously," she said.

A year later, she underwent sex change surgery and had her birth certificate changed to female. Then, her life changed in an instant.

Four years after their marriage, her firefighter husband was tragically killed in a blazing factory fire outside Houston. A grieving Nikki found herself waging a war with her late husband's family over his firefighter's benefits, worth more than a half-a-million dollars.

"I'm fighting for the widow's benefits and the validity and acknowledgement of my relationship with my late husband," Nikki explained.

A Texas judge voided her marriage since Nikki was born male. Her lawyer, Allie Levy, has filed an appeal.

Levy explained, "The state of Texas family code specifically does recognize sex change."

The whole ordeal took an emotional toll.

Nikki said, "I never felt like I would be loved."

But cupid's arrow struck again when Nikki went on a dating site and met William Lloyd, a successful Houston artist and owner of The Starving Artist Gallery.

William told INSIDE EDITION, "I was not expecting to fall in love and next thing I know, I totally did."

They attended a wedding together and sparks flew.

Nikki told us, "I caught the bouquet."

"I caught the garter," said William.

Then, William popped the question.

William said the fact that Nikki was born a boy isn't a issue. "She is like the perfect woman her anatomy is like any other woman I've ever been with."

William is divorced with two kids. His son, Cash and daughter, Charlotte, have accepted Nikki.

Charlotte remarked, "People should love who they want and who they want to marry is who they want to marry."

But it wasn't as simple as that. Nikki and William were denied a marriage license in Houston because it was considered a same sex marriage even though Nikki has her birth certificate and passport which both show she is legally female.

"I had a sex change. I am a woman and I have proof of it," she stated.

So, Nikki and William headed to nearby Corpus Christi where Nikki's proof of a sex change was accepted and she could finally start over with a second chance at happiness.