Bruce Jenner reportedly began transitioning to womanhood in the mid-1980s, undergoing hormone therapy, electrolysis, and plastic surgery, but stopped when he met and married Kris Kardashian Jenner in 1990.
The revelation came Thursday, just a day before Jenner's exclusive two-hour interview special with Diane Sawyer is set to air on ABC. In it, he's expected to reveal that he is transgender.
An unnamed source
told Entertainment Tonight that Jenner was discussing reassignment surgery with doctors in Denmark around the time he met Kardashian, and had to undergo breast-reduction surgery and halt his hormone regimen before they were married in 1991.
Jenner was reportedly deeply inspired by transgender tennis player Renee Richard, who published her autobiography, "Second Serve," in 1983, and became the subject of a Golden Globe-nominated TV movie starring Vanessa Redgraves in 1986.
Decades after winning a gold medal in the decathlon at the 1976 Summer Olympics, Jenner would become the family patriarch and star in the megahit reality show "Keeping Up with the Kardashians."
Step-daughter Kim Kardashian went on record earlier this year saying the family supports Jenner in his journey, but did not confirm an details related to rumors that he is transgender.