Chaz Bono, the daughter of SONNY AND CHER who recently underwent a sex change, has spoken openly for the first time about the transition, reports Time Magazine. Chaz Bono, formerly known as 'Chastity', is set to release her new book 'Transition: The Story of How I Became a Man' and will also feature in a forthcoming documentary on Oprah Winfrey's OWN network.
The 42-year-old first rose to prominence after coming out as a lesbian in the 1990's and her gay activism pulled her further into the spotlight. After undergoing a transitional process that included both surgery and hormone treatments, Chaz says he is beginning to garner attention for his changing body, saying, "We were talking about how we were going to break the story, and it broke without us, because my voice started changing. People notice things, and they call the tabloids". The writer and musician says he was resigned to the fact that the change would be heavily documented in the press, saying, "I couldn't do it privately. So I could either have done it and people would have known, and other people would have written about it, and it wouldn't be the truth". Bono began taking testosterone to help with the transitional process, saying it "basically puts you through another puberty". When pressed on the specific side effects, the 42-year-old said, "Voice deepening and hair growing and muscle growth and acne. Increased sex drive, assertiveness".
Chaz Bono's new documentary "Becoming Chaz", premieres on the OWN network tomorrow (10th May 2011). The movie will focuses on Bono's interactions with family members while he underwent the sex change.