Bob Tur, Famed LA Helicopter Reporter, is Trans

Photo posted yesterday on Bob Zoey Tur's Facebook page

Bob Tur shot to fame after covering the L.A. riots and the O.J. Simpson slow-speed freeway chase. Tur also dated Carrie Fisher for a brief period in 2003. Now the helicopter reporter has become the news, according to CBS and other outlets, with her announcement that she's a transgender woman.

Tur, 53, told KNX 1070's Chris Sedens and Diane Thompson that she's in the "early stages of aggressive hormone replacement therapy to fully transform from male to female." She said her name will change from Robert to Zoey.

"It's a genetic disorder that happens in utero. Nobody knows exactly why, but you're born with a female or feminized brain," Tur said. "The corpus callosum is the main structure that joins the left and right hemispheres and it's a nightmare if you don't really know who you are. You think you're a woman, but you're a man."

Tur said that friends and family have been supportive and that she was "done trying to deal with this." The past 35 days of hormone treatment have also caused noticeable changes.

"There have been incredible changes that happen physically and mentally. Mental changes have already happened. The brain is plastic, so its gotten smaller and feminized. I'm thinking the same way a woman would think," Tur said. "About the five-month mark, you won't recognize me. My body is changing, my skin is changing, hair is changing, and I'll have a female shape. Breasts start growing and I'll lose body hair. Later on, about 12 months, there are another couple of surgeries. Facial feminization surgery and sexual reassignment surgery."

Tur was previously married and has two children; her daughter, Katy Tur, is a correspondent for NBC News.

Watch a clip below: