'I was constantly paranoid I'd be found out!' - PHOTO+VIDEO

'I carried the paranoia [of being found out] with me every day,' the 30-year-old New York-based model tells Glamour, explaining that in part, she wanted to beat the 'salacious gossip pages' who could discover her secret at any time; a secret that even her own modeling agency didn't know.'There was always that fear: What if people found out? They'd think I'd duped them, and maybe I'd lose my regular clients. It could ruin my career.'Despite her fears that the truth could ruin her career, Miss Rocero's TED talk earned her a standing ovation, over two million online views, and widespread positive attention.The commitment to go public struck her while she was in Tulum, Mexico, on her 30th birthday last year. 'I don't give a damn anymore. I'm ready to share my full journey as a woman,' she told her boyfriend at the time.Still, Miss Rocero went to a Catholic school and was required to wear a boys uniform - which she altered to at least fit her in a more feminine way - and was still teased and insulted on occasion. At the age of 15, Miss Rocero was encouraged to compete in a prestigious transgender pageant, and came second. She went on to win many more, and used her earnings to buy hormones that helped her grow breasts and adopt more womanly attributes; in spite of her fears for the drugs' safety.She was 17 when she moved to the U.S. to join her mother in San Francisco. To her enormous delight, the move meant she could change her name and identify as a 'female' on immigration records.Receiving her female driver's license was a moment she will never forget. 'Getting that license, to me, was a license to live,' she recalls.  (dailymail.co.uk)Bakudaily.Az