Connie Chung recalls being sexually abused by a doctor in a new book

After going public with her previous sexual assault in 2018, Connie Chung discussed the incident further in her new memoir.

“I was sexually abused by our trusted doctor, but what made this monster even more despicable was that he was the same doctor who delivered me on August 20, 1946,” Chung, 78, wrote in Connie: A Memoirpublished on Tuesday, September 17.

Chung was in college at the time. Because she was “advanced to the so-called heavy cuddling phase” in relationships, Chung made an appointment to receive “protection against pregnancy.”

Chung noted that she had “never” had a gynecological exam and didn’t know what to expect.

“Not understanding or knowing what he was doing, I stared at the ceiling. He massaged my clitoris with his right index finger. At the same time, he inserted his right middle finger into my vagina,” she recalled, adding that the doctor – who has since died – “coached” her through the attack.

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“Suddenly, to my horror, I had an orgasm for the first time in my life. My body jerked several times,” she continued. ‘Then he leaned over, kissed me, pecked my lips and slipped behind the curtain to retire to his office. I didn’t say a word. I couldn’t even look at him.”

After Chung went public with her story in October 2018, she received a call from one of her sisters who had also been assaulted by the same doctor.

“Sometimes I wonder if that incident made me stronger to handle blatant sexual situations,” she wrote. “I was no longer naive in that respect.”

Ahead of the publication of her memoir, Chung spoke with We weekly exclusively about how she experienced “a catharsis” while writing the book.

“I realized that I really had to sort through things that I didn’t necessarily want to experience again,” she admitted Us. “I discovered that the original source of the word catharsis was a medical term, and that it rids your body of unwanted waste. I realized that I was really ridding my body of that waste that I didn’t want anything to do with. At my age, all I want is good bowel movements. So there I said to myself, ‘Oh, this feels really good to just spill it.’ Get it all out.”

She also went on to become “voracious reader” and husband Maury Povich for inspiration for writing a memoir. He recommended it Personal history by famous Washingtonpost publisher Katharine Graham.

“One of the things I didn’t want was to be in labor,” she explained, noting that she and Graham had gone through similar experiences in the news business.

“She was never bothered by me, and I fought for her until the end,” Chung said. “I thought: that’s what I want to do. There’s no crying in baseball, there’s no crying in the news. I think I came out completely intact.”

Connie: A Memoir is out now.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).