'Becoming Us' follows gender transition journey

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Charlie Lehwald knew as a child he did not fit the body he was born with, so eight years ago he started the transition to become a woman. By that time, he had been married to his wife for twenty years and they shared a son.

"Something wasn't right," Lehwald said. "It just didn't fit."

Lehwald tried for years, for decades, to fit the mold of what he thought he was supposed to be. A loving husband. A doting father.

Today, Carly Lehwald feels free.

"It's not a choice," she said. "When you wrestle with something like that your whole life it's not something, you just don't wake up one day and go, 'Oh, I'm going to become a woman. Fun!' It's just not like that."

Before she came out, Carly was prepared to lose everything, including her son. Happily, that didn't happen.

The change didn't come without some loss.

"I think about it," Ben Lehwald said. "It's like, 'Well, I did have a dad. But I don't anymore. And now I have Carly.'"

Ben Lehwald was 13 years old when his father told him he wanted to become a woman. ABC Family's "Becoming Us" picks up on their journey as Carly navigates her transition.

As Ben wrestled with his conflicting emotions, his mother Suzy struggled mightily. She had known her marriage was on shaky ground. Carly battled alcoholism and kept five years of hormone therapy a secret. When Carly's body started to change, Suzy confronted her about it.

"Oh, it was like I was free. It was just like I didn't have to hide anymore," Carly Lehwald said.

Their relationship has improved since the divorce, but the healing is not yet complete.

"Letting that type of dishonesty out, it was really freeing. But it's hurtful. It hurt her," Carly said.

Aside from some lingering regret, Carly says she's happy and feels whole. She has completed her transition and couldn't care less if someone whispers or points when she walks by.

"My voice is still low," she said. "There's characteristics in me that are still very masculine and I just embrace all that. The joy is I get to be who I am."

Ben Lehwald found comfort helping others in the first year after his father came out. So, the reality television show was his idea. He and his family hope this honest and intimate look at their experience will help others in similar situations.

"Becoming Us" premiers Monday June 8 at 8 p.m. central on ABC Family.