A transgender woman whose wife stayed with her through sex change surgery, helped her shop for a new wardrobe and join a dating site is now repaying her  by becoming her carer. Emily Dodge, 62, who was born a man revealed she needed to live as a woman to wife Jean Smith, 68, after the couple, from Cornwall, had been happily married for 20 years. Today Emily describes her relationship with Jean as like 'close sisters' and has pledged to stand by her loyal spouse now that she has   dementia. Emily Dodge (left) was born with a male body and revealed to wife of 20 years, Jean Smith (right) that she wanted to transition to a woman. Emily now cares for Jean, who suffers from early onset dementia . The Cornwall-based couple were married for 20 years before Emily (right) transitioned. Things took a turn for the worse when Jean began to suffer memory loss in 2013. She was diagnosed with early onset dementia in 2014 . Emily - who has not revealed her birth name - will stand by Jean, who was diagnosed with early onset dementia in 2014. The former IT worker said: 'I always promised Jean we would be best friends and that will never change. I will never leave her.' Jean, a former financial advisor, discovered her then 55-year-old husband needed to live as a woman and stayed by her side, helping Emily through gender reassignment surgery in February 2011. The couple, from Helston, in Cornwall, were so close after the operation Jean helped the woman who had been her husband with some wardrobe advice. Emily said: 'Jean was amazing. Once I was well enough after the operation, we went shopping together and she'd pick out outfits for me. 'She even helped me enrol for online dating. Our relationship is now like close sisters. She's my best friend.' Emily spoke candidly about life before the operation. 'I had felt like a woman trapped in the body of a man and the only time I felt happy was when I was wearing women's clothes and make-up' - Emily Dodge (pictured) was tired of living a double life . 'To the outside world, including Jean, I was a guy who liked DIY, football and a pint with my mates of an evening, but actually, that wasn't me at all.' - Emily shocked wife Jean with the revelation that he wanted to live life as a woman . She said: 'To the outside world, including Jean, I was a guy who liked DIY, football and a pint with my mates of an evening, but actually, that wasn't me at all. 'I had felt like a woman trapped in the body of a man and the only time I felt happy was when I was wearing women's clothes and make-up. 'I kept it all hidden in the loft and would only get it out if I was sure Jean was going to be out for a while.' But living a double life was not easy and after 20 years of marriage, Emily decided to come clean. Jean said: 'It was a huge shock when my husband told me how he wanted to live as a woman. He came into the living room wearing a skirt. I nearly had a heart attack.' Initially, she thought it was a joke. But after a lot of discussion, Mrs Smith gave her blessing, as long as her husband didn't dress in women's clothes in front of her. Before and after: Emily underwent gender reassignment surgery and wife Jean helped her shop for new clothes and enroll on online dating sites . Emily said: 'At first, that was okay. I'd lock myself in the spare room, put on one of my favourite dresses and read a book for an hour. It felt so good to finally be myself, but when I wiped off the make-up and put on a short again, it didn't feel right. 'Eventually I knew that would never be enough for me and I plucked up the courage to tell Jean I wanted to live as a woman full time. 'Jean said she didn't want to lose me and she wanted me to be happy,' she said. 'It meant the world to me.' With her approval, Ms Dodge changed her name to Emily and started taking female hormones. She had gender reassignment surgery and breast augmentation on the NHS in February 2011. 'I spent eight days in the hospital afterwards but it was worth it,' she said. 'When I looked in the mirror I was in the body I was always meant to be in. It felt right. Still best friends: Emily Dodge (left) is repaying Jean's loyalty by becoming her sole carer, and has put finding a man to share a life with, on the back burner . 'Jean fully accepted the new me too. We'd go clothes shopping together, get our hair and nails done and gossip over coffee. But soon I realised something was missing. I wanted to experience every aspect of being a woman.' She wanted male company – and Emily encouraged her to explore this. Jean said: 'I knew I'd already lost my husband, so letting Emily see other people was almost inevitable. Emily says she'll never leave me and I believe her.' She vetted Emily's potential dates and helped her choose what to wear. Emily met up with several men and also had a brief relationship with Mrs Smith's knowledge. She said: 'Jean knew all about them and spoke to the guy on the phone. It was only brief but none of it was behind her back.' Sadly, in 2013 Emily started to notice Jean was suffering some memory loss. She said: 'Jean would ask visitors if they wanted a cup of tea then go into the kitchen and come out and ask again. 'She couldn't keep up with television programmes and struggled to use the remote control.' Emily alerted the doctor and two health care workers came to the house to conduct a memory test. Emily now also runs a support group for people considering genital reconstructive surgery . After her results came back below average, Mrs Smith had a brain scan and was subsequently diagnosed with early onset vascular dementia. This means there is a reduced blood supply to the brain due to diseased blood vessels, causing brain cells to die and reduce cognitive function. Emily has since been her sole carer and consigned finding a man to share her life with, on the back burner. She said: 'I'm always worrying I'm not doing the right thing for her, so for now dating is on hold. 'Meeting someone does cross my mind from time to time. If it happened, it would be nice, but I'm not going looking for it.' Emily also runs a support group and advises other people who are planning on having genital reconstruction surgery. Now the couple, who have been together 39 years, are taking things a day at a time. Emily said: 'It's very hard as I don't know how Jean will be from one day to the next. But I do know one thing - Jean will always come first.'
Emily Dodge, 62, was born a man but had surgery to become a woman . Wife Jean Smith, 68, stood by her husband during transition . The couple, from Cornwall, have been together for 39 years . Emily is caring for Jean, who has dementia, saying 'I will never leave her'