Bernard met Lenina at a science fiction convention in Las Vegas in 2005. Bernard is a film producer who is British and lives in London. Lenina was then starting out as a science fiction writer; she had just finished writing her first screenplay and went to the convention to make contacts in the hope that a producer might be interested in her script. Lenina who also lives in London grew up confused about her gender. Although female in physical appearance she never felt completely comfortable living as a woman and has spent periods of time living ostensibly as a man. Bernard and Leninas relationship quickly developed and they started living together about six months after first meeting. Bernard was keen to get married but Lenina although she loved him did not want to. Bernard threatened to tell Leninas very religious parents about her living as a man unless she agreed to marry him. They married in 2007 at Chelsea register office when Bernard was 44 and Lenina was 26.