Molly Haskell will always have brotherly love for Ellen Hampton. After all, Hampton was once named John Cheves Haskell Jr. and used to be Haskell's brother. Until 2005, Hampton lived as John -- or, as his family called him, Chevey. That year, he told his sister he had been living with gender dysphoria, which the American Psychiatric Association defines as a marked incongruence between one's experienced/expressed gender and assigned gender. This was my 59-year-old brother, Haskell said of the revelation in a phone interview. He had been this little boy, and all my memories had been of a male. It makes you revisit your whole past. Haskell details the experience with a critical but compassionate eye in her latest book, My Brother My Sister. At the time of the announcement, Chevey was married to a woman, Eleanor, and a loving stepdad to their two children. Hampton, now divorced, lives as a heterosexual female after gender reassignment and facial reconstruction surgeries, hormone therapy and a wardrobe overhaul. Haskell recently spoke to CNN about her own familial and emotional journey with her transgender sibling. The interview has been edited for clarity and brevity. CNN: You 've obviously come to terms with Ellen's decision. What did it take on your part ? Haskell: First of all, I realized very soon that it's very overwhelming. I knew I could never say do n't do this.My