Model Andreja Pejic comes out as a transgender woman: 'I have to be true to myself'

Andrej Pejic is now Andreja Pejic.

The model came out publicly Thursday as a transgender woman, announcing across Entertainment Tonight, People.com and Style.com that she had undergone sex reassignment surgery earlier this year.

"I want to share my story with the world because I think I have a social responsibility. I hope that by being open about this, it becomes less of an issue," the 22-year-old model, born in Serbia and raised in Australia, told People.

Pejic has been hugely successful as an androgynous model, wearing both men's and women's clothes, and landing covers of magazines such as Elle and French Vogue. You may also recognize Pejic from her appearance alongside Tilda Swindon in David Bowie's 2013 video for

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She opened up to People about her journey, recounting growing up in a Melbourne suburb. At 13, Pejic said she finally made sense of the feelings she'd been having since she was young:

I went into the library and typed "sex change" into Google and my life changed. The Internet gave me the sense that there were words to describe my feelings and medical terms.

She developed a plan in high school (she had been taking puberty blockers to halt the transformations that would "turn me into something like my brother and father"), and began embracing her inner femininity, which was newly reflected in her style.

When I told my mother, grandma and my brother, they were all very supportive. I was going to finish high school as Andrej, transition, and forget about my male past.

Pejic was discovered at 17, and put things on hold "to see the world and gain some financial stability" as her modeling career took off. But a year and a half ago, she re-evaluated things.

I was proud of my gender nonconforming career. But my biggest dream was to be comfortable in my own body. I have to be true to myself and the career is just going to have to fit around that.

Now that she's undergone the surgery:

Every day is like a new revelation. I'm more comfortable than ever. I feel at a 100 percent.
https://www.facebook.com/AndrejPejicOfficial/photos/a.621118847898870.1073741829.161650703845689/834856429858443

"I think we all evolve as we get older and that's normal, but I like to think that my recent transition hasn't made me into a different individual. Same person, no difference at all, just a different sex, I hope you can all understand that," she wrote on Facebook, thanking fans for their support.

And through GLAAD, she said, "To all trans youth out there, I would like to say respect yourself and be proud of who you are. All human beings deserve equal treatment no matter their gender identity or sexuality. To be perceived as what you say you are is a basic human right."