22 July, 2011 3:40PM AEST
Documentary filmmaker Phoebe Hart was 17 when the 'big family secret' was finally revealed to her.
http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2011/07/22/3275879.htmPhoebe Hart has a condition called AIS - Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome; a woman with male chromosomes, which means she's part male and part female.
When her mother finally revealed the full truth about her condition Phoebe was intially shocked, but then relieved to have an explanation for why she was different to her friends.