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Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff
Identical 14-year-old twins, Nicole and Jonas Maines, started out life as brothers Wyatt and Jonas. Nicole is transgender.
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Jonas and Wyatt during their second birthday party.
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Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff
When he was 4, Wyatt asked his mother: "When do I get to be a girl?" In the fifth grade, Wyatt's name was legally changed to Nicole.
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Wyatt often liked to dress in girl's clothes and identified more as a girl than a boy.
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Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff
Jonas, Nicole and their parents, Kelly and Wayne Maines.
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Jonas and Wyatt playing when they were 2.
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Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff
Nicole is part of the groundbreaking clinic at Children's Hospital founded by Dr. Norman Spack, that helps families deal with emotional and medical issues that arise from having a transgender child. The Maines are the first identical twins the program has seen.
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Wyatt posed with barbie dolls at age 4.
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A self-portrait Wyatt Maines drew in first grade. Throughout elementary school, Wyatt told classmates he was a "girl-boy."
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Jonas and Wyatt Maines at age 9. Wyatt started growing his hair longer and started talking about a name change in fourth grade.
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Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff
During the interview, Nicole checks on her brother, who had become quiet and withdrawn and whispers words of encouragement in his ear.
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An essay by Wyatt Maines, written in the fourth grade.
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Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff
Jonas and Nicole play video games in Jonas's room.
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Drawing and poem by Wyatt Maines, age 7. In the fifth grade, Nicole was harassed and bullied and the family eventually decided to change schools.
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Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff
Jonas lifts his sister, Nicole, as they horse around in her bedroom. Both have black belts in tae kwon do.
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Self-portrait by Wyatt Maines, fourth grade.
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Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff
In Nicole's room. Jonas makes Nicole's bed to neaten up for a photo shoot. Nicole has been taking male hormone suppressors since she was 11; the next step is to add female hormones.
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Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff
"I love having a sister," says Jonas. "We have a very strong relationship."
