Chaz Bono On Gender Reassignment

I don't know Chaz Bono, never met him, but I can say that I am quite proud of him, and anyone, who realizes that perhaps a mistake has been made, and that years of living in a body that didn't feel 'right' can be changed. I cannot imagine what it must be like to live in a body that you don't believe is yours; it must make you question every single thing about yourself. So, I'm glad he's talking about this. It shouldn't be taboo. I wish him well.


On making the decision to undergo surgery:
"It wasn't a sudden decision. I've been doing therapy for a long time. It’s a long process going back almost a decade. I got clean and sober in 2004 and I couldn't have done this before that. I always felt like the male from the time I was a child. There wasn't much feminine about me. I believe that gender is something between your ears not between your legs…It was just a long process of being comfortable enough to do something about it. I was turning 40 and I thought it's now or never. I want to still feel vibrant and be able to enjoy my life in a male body and not wait until I am an old man."

On taking male hormones and "top surgery":
"I started in March. It lowered my voice. Fat redistributes, muscle growth, hair growth, sex drive increases. It doesn't change anything mentally and emotionally. [I'm] still not anywhere near what I will look like but really for the first time I am feeling much more comfortable with how I look physically. Most people call it top surgery. The construction of the male chest from a female chest. When I went through puberty and started to grow breasts, it was very uncomfortable and emotional."

On the changing process:
"I will be changing for about 4 to 5 years in total but I'll be on testosterone for the rest of my life. The nice thing about this process is it is slow. I am literally going through puberty. I shave about once a week now. It kind of started to come in just like peach fuzz. I always wanted to shave. It is a very natural process. For my birthday I got a lot of shaving stuff."

On why he's going public with his personal decision:
"[I'm] trying to use my life experience to educate people. I feel more like myself more than I ever felt. I feel happier and more confident. I used to live most of my life in my head because I was so uncomfortable in my body. The most important thing about this for me is that my outsides are finally starting to match my insides. I feel like I'm living in my body for the first time and it feels really good."