Barry Cossey was born and raised a boy in Brooke, a village in Norfolk, England. Even through puberty, Cossey was somewhat feminine in appearance due to a condition known as Klinefelter's syndrome; however, instead of having XXY chromosomes like most with this condition, Cossey is XXXY. In Cossey's autobiography My Story, she describes an unhappy childhood, where she suffered confusing feelings and bullying by peers due to her femininity. Growing up, Cossey's closest companion was his sister, Pamela, with whom he would play dress up in their mother's clothes. Cossey left formal schooling when he was 15, and found work in a clothing store and as a butcher's apprentice; at 16, Cossey left Norfolk and moved to London, where he held a variety of low-wage jobs in the city.