Chastity Bono says getting sober gave her the confidence to start gender re-assignment surgery. She is now living as a man called Chaz - never felt comfortable being a female and knew the time was right to have a sex change.

Chaz said: -

"It wasn't a suddden 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 donne this before that.

"I always felt like the male from the time I was a child. I believe that gender is something between your ears and not your legs. There wasn't much feminine about me. That is something discovered in the early 90's. 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.