Recently Chastity Bono announced she was having surgery to become a man. A transgender center in Montgomery County is busier than ever. Medical Reporter Stephanie Stahl has the exclusive story of one of the oldest patients to make the switch.
Renee Ramsey is recovering from the surgery that she's been dreaming of for decades.
"Since I was about 13, I always knew something was different," said Renee.
She used to be Richard; a green beret specialist in Vietnam. A tough guy who privately dreamed of wearing dresses.
"It was weird cause as much as I wanted to dress like a lady, I didn't say anything. I knew if I did I would be discharged," said Renee.
She was in the military for over 20 years and married twice. She says Richard eventually started to dress like a woman, but switched back into the uniform for official duties.
"A lot of these transgender patients who try to be men, they take on masculine jobs they become labor struck, drivers, police men, soldiers," said Dr. Sherman Leis, with The Philadelphia Center for Transgender Surgery, says people with gender identity issues often try to over compensate.
"It was just a wonderful thing that I wanted for my whole life," said Dr. Christine McGinn, who CBS 3 interviewed three years ago. She had once been a man in the Navy. A military man, like Richard, who's now Renee.
Renee is 77, and while genital re-assignment surgery is complicated, age, as long as there are not medical problems, usually isn't an issue.
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