Editor's note

It was about a year ago when an editor at the magazine got a form letter at home from her Somerville doctor. The letter from Dr. Roy Berkowitz-Shelton explained that he was going to be taking a leave from his practice and that when he returned, it would be as a woman. "I am looking forward to many more years as your family physician," his letter said.

Our editor, presumably like the doctor's nearly 4,000 other patients, was surprised. She knew he was married and had two children. She'd been seeing him for years, and she had found him to be warm, sincere, and a good healer. But changing sexes? The more we talked about it, the more we realized that the same questions that our editor had were probably being asked by all of his other patients. And we knew there was a story to tell.

There were, predictably, a few news bits following the doctor's announcement, but he never spoke publicly about it beyond his letter. We knew if any writer could persuade Berkowitz-Shelton to talk about his decision, it would be the same writer who got the reclusive Nomar Garciaparra to open up and the elusive Theo Epstein to talk, and who would tackle the subject with the seriousness it deserved. This is, after all, a story about a doctor, a husband, a father, and, now, a woman.

It's a story Neil Swidey tells in two installments, starting today and returning next week.

Part one is Roy's story. Part two is Deborah's. Both are riveting.

And important.
– Doug Most