Support : Kai Windsor , now 10 , with his mother Rachel . Like most boys , he always preferred football to dolls . But Kai Windsor started life as a girl – and knew from the age of three that he had been born into the wrong body . Christened Kaia , he would shun traditional girls ’ toys in favour of kicking a ball around . By four , he refused to wear dresses – and at six he wanted his hair cut short and developed a boyish awkwardness around girls . By nine , he had finally broken the truth to his mother Rachel , 37 , telling her : ‘ I ’ m really a boy. ’ Now , at the age of ten , Kai is set to undergo hormone treatment to halt puberty to stop him developing into a woman . Miss Windsor , from Cheltenham , Gloucestershire , said : ‘ As a toddler , Kai only wanted to play ball . As a girl , he had no interest in any dolls and made a beeline for boy ’ s toys . ‘ And as soon as he began school , he only wanted to wear trousers as the other boys did . Soon after , I noticed he went red whenever girls were around. ’ Kai is not alone in facing gender problems . The number of transgender referrals to the NHS for children under 11 has quadrupled since 2009 . Like many parents in her situation , Miss Windsor had never heard of children facing such issues . But the single mother , who runs a health juice business , said Kai had ‘ amazing support ’ from his primary school . He was given counselling when his schoolwork started to suffer , and later decided to confront the issue head-on . ‘ They were the ones who suggested Kai should have counselling , ’ she said . ‘ Then when he came out as transgender , they sent a letter out to all the parents in his year to explain he now wanted to be referred to as a boy . ‘ Staff then held a special lesson for all the year to explain about being transgender . And now they are even in the process of building unisex toilets to make life easier for Kai and other children like him. ’ Kaia pretty in pink , aged four , pictured left , and dressing up as a pirate , at five , pictured right . When Kai was born there was no outward sign he was anything other than female . Miss Windsor , who also has a daughter Jasmine , 16 , from a previous relationship , said : ‘ As a toddler I usually put Kaia in dresses and bought her lots of dolls . Meanwhile , as her blonde hair grew , I put in pigtails . It simply never occurred to me she wouldn ’ t be as feminine as her sister. ’ She added : ‘ Looking back Kai knew then he was a boy . He had no interest in dolls , preferring to play with a football . And when we were out he ’ d head straight for the boy ’ s section in shops , asking for Spiderman toys. ’ At seven , Kai wanted his hair cut shorter . But his grades started suffering and he was later given counselling at school . Within a few weeks , his behaviour and schoolwork improved and last year he officially became transgender after telling his mother one morning . Transgender Kai is now happy in his skin at last and is now set to undergo hormone treatment . Meanwhile , his grades immediately improved . ‘ Once people stopped referring to Kai as a girl and he could just be the little boy he wanted , he was so much happier , ’ she said . Kai is now set to have hormone treatment to curb puberty . If at the age of 16 , he wants to complete the full transition to an adult man , he will be offered gender reassignment surgery . Miss Windsor added : ‘ There have been plenty of tears . It is hard to see your child going through such turmoil . But whatever happens I will always be there to support Kai . ‘ And right now it is just a wonderful relief to see him happy in his own skin at last . ’
Kai Windsor knew from three that he had been born in the wrong body . By four he would n't wear dresses and by six he wanted to cut his hair short . Kai came out at school as a transgender and is now referred to as a boy . At age of 10 he is set to undergo hormone treatment to halt puberty .