Pain of sex change: Dissolving of a family in Shutesbury
By STEVE PFARRER Staff Writer
Thursday, December 6, 2012
http://www.gazettenet.com/home/3191189-95/benvenuto-husband-book-genderSHUTESBURY — Several years ago, Valley writer Christine Benvenuto and her husband of more than 20 years went through a bitter divorce. Their children were heartbroken, and Benvenuto was devastated. But the sad story had an unusual twist.
The marriage dissolved not because her husband left to be with another woman. He had begun the process of becoming one, from growing his hair to ingesting female hormones.
"For two years I watched my husband die," she said.
Benvenuto, who lives in Shutesbury, eventually came to terms with the circumstances. She gradually confided in friends, came to understand her ex's situation better and met another man. And now, she has detailed the experience in the book "Sex Changes: A Memoir of Marriage, Gender and Moving On," recently published by St. Martin's Press.
The book takes the reader through grief, anger, bewilderment and self-recrimination — as well as some dark humor — as Benvenuto confronts the end of her marriage and the steady disappearance of the man she fell in love with as a college student. She becomes a single mother to three active children and finds herself worn to a frazzle.
