Chaz Bono Had Breast Removal Surgery

By Marc Malkin -

Chaz Bono may have been born a girl, but he always felt he was a boy.
As everyone knows by now, Chaz is Sonny and Cher's offspring, formerly known as Chastity.
"I've hated my body since puberty," he says in Becoming Chaz, a documentary about his female-to-male transition.
In fact… Bono reveals that as a little girl he would go to sleep at night "praying [he'd] wake up as a boy."
Becoming Chaz, which premiered last night at the Sundance Film Festival, is absolutely fascinating. Bono reveals everything and more. He is shown having his breast removal operation, contemplating genital reassignment surgery and taking his hormone shots. "I just knew I wanted to be a boy," Chaz says.
He talks openly about his recovery from substance abuse, his sex life and his relationship with longtime girlfriend Jenny Elia. Oh, and wait till you see the couple's hairless cats.
Bono also says he'd love to have a body like actor...Michael Chiklis! "I'm never going to be a little guy," he says.
Cher admits in the film that she was "terrified" to see Chaz after his breast surgery. She also says she thinks Sonny would have been supportive of Chaz's decision. (We're happy to report that Chaz's stepmom, Republican U.S. Rep. Mary Bono, attended the Sundance premiere.)
When asked by an audience member after the screening if it was harder being born female or being born famous, Chaz said, "Definitely being born as a woman was a lot harder than being famous. You can figure out how to work that one, but if you're a guy in a woman's body you're just screwed pretty much."
Coproducers and directors Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato also announced that a sequel is already in the works. "I wanted to do this because I wanted to help people," Chaz said. "And I knew that...I could put a face on this issue that people just don't understand because it's a hard one to understand. I wanted to be able to change people's hearts and minds on this."
Bravo, Chaz!



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