this is "nightline." tonight, the duggar daughters speaking out, defending their brother in the midst of controversy. new details about those sexual abuse allegations and why the embattled reality tv family is rallying around josh duggar. "becoming us." whether you are call me cait level famous or not. >> her name is a carly. >> it is hard to prepare for this moment. >> carly was my dad. >> tonight, two teens with transgender parents giving an honest look at the troubles and triumphs as they navigate the journey to a new normal. >> he's got a misspelled name and only half of a tail. but american pharoah is no dark

horse. can the fan favorite clinch the elusive triple crown tomorrow at the belmont stakes? but first, the "nightline" 5. >> zantac heart burn alert. stop. nexium can take 24 hours to work. zantac's different. zantac rushes relief in little as 30 minutes for relief without the wait. try zantac. no pill relieves heart burn faster. >> got big pain in a small place, get big relief in a small patch. new icy hot micro patch. >> icy to dull hot to relax. >> new icy hot micro patch. the perfect fit. >> number one in just 60 we showed these kids some items from a nearby store, whoa! but they didn't know they were all tobacco products. ooh this is cool. it smells like gum. yummy. this smells like strawberry. ooh, are these mints? with colorful packaging and fruit and candy flavors that kids love, who do you think tobacco

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defended their brother and parents. in handling allegations of sexual abuse inside their home. after the story surface, the "19 kids and counting" was quickly pulled from the air. now the fallout continues with strong reaction to the latest duggar family defense. >> i was 12. >> how about you? >> i guess i was 9 or 10. >> tonight the duggar daughters finally speaking out. >> he was a boy, young boy in puberty. little too curious about girls and that got him in to trouble. >> reporter: 24-year-old jill and 22-year-old jessa defending their brother josh who sexually moll lest ed them when they were children. >> i want to speak up in his defense against people who are calling him a child molester or pedophile or rapist, some people are saying. i'm like that is so overboard and a lie really. >> the now married sister sitting down with fox news megyn

kelly about their oldest brother josh duggar now 27 who allegedly had sexual inappropriate contact with five girls including four sisters when he was 14 and 15. >> we never claimed to be a perfect family. my parents have stated we are not a perfect family. we are just a family. >> reporter: earlier this week the parents, jim bob and michelle seemed to down play the abuse saying their daughters were either asleep or didn't understand they were being molested. >> to them, they probably didn't understand it was improper touch. >> reporter: the reaction to the parents speaking out this week has been mostly negative. some headlines ripping their fox interview as horrifying, disgusting and an unholy disaster. >> wasn't the story of josh's mistake. it was the story of a whole family's mishandling of a sensitive situation. >> reporter: sheryl underwood gave a personal reaction to the show on "the talk." >> i'm probably the only person

at this table that went through that. i went through that three, four, five years old. you know something is wrong. when the people you are supposed to trust to protect you seem to be the co-conspirator in your violation. >> reporter: on social media, many criticizing the sisters for defending their brother. even sarah palin getting in to the fray accusing the media of being critical of the conservative duggar family while they say they gave lena dunham a pass last year when she wrote in a memoir she experimented with her younger sister. >> it is burned in our memory that josh made bad decisions and he's going to suffer the consequences. >> reporter: the disturbing details tonight. >> we're the duggars. >> a contrast to the family's squeaky clean image. for years they have been portrayed on their show, "19 kids and counting," as a conservative christian family who played and prayed together. frowning on hugging for fear it may cause impure thoughts. >> the ray of hope was josh came and told us and his heart was still soft.

>> reporter: the latest in a scandal that broke two weeks ago when "in touch" magazine released the report saying josh was never charged. the family said they are the victims because the sealed police reports were leaked. >> it's been an unprecedented attack on our family. >> tonight jill duggar breaking down as she speaks of that moment. >> i couldn't believe what was going on when i heard the police report had been released. they can't do this to us. >> by rehashing this we have reopened this wound for these girls. i wish we'd leave them alone. >> child abuse activists says jill and jessa are victimized in the public eye, even if questions remain about their parents actions. >> what the duggars did wrong is not go to the police immediately. the first thing they should have done when josh disclosed this was get on the phone with the authorities. they should have sat down and said, josh, you know, we

appreciate you confessing your sins but you committed a crime and we need to make a police report. >> reporter: the duggars waited more than a year before reporting it to authorities. >> what makes a case like this complicated is that you are talking about a child allegedly molesting other children. those cases always get really difficult. if the authorities investigated this earlier, the parents could have been charged, as well. the statute of limitations had expired. no charges were ever filed. >> they could have been charged for failing to report this in a timely fashion. that's a felony in the state of arkansas. they could have faced the possibility of up to six years behind bars. >> reporter: child abuse activist erin merryn said she was invited to the home to talk to their young children about improper touching but neither josh jill or jessa was there. the dark family secret never came up. >> i had no idea this happened in their home.

looking back on it i think they brought me in to their homes to get across the message to the rest of the kids if this ever happens to you, come and tell mom and dad, do not keep it a secret. >> reporter: josh duggar himself did not sit down for the interview and released this statement last week. i acted inexcusably for which i'm deeply sorry and regret. i hurt others including my family and close friends. >> the siblings don't consider it abuse. they don't know what is going on they don't know how to make sense out of it. it brings up a lot of confusing issues. for the parents it's hard to know how to parent. >> reporter: but dr. ludwig says the duggar a family environment may have played a role. >> if you live in an environment where you are an adolescent and you are taught or led to believe that your sexual impulses are bad or animalistic, what do you do with those impulses? he was 14. he probably had a lot of sexual curiosity impulses.

what happened is not okay under any circumstances, but i think there are reasons we need to understand. >> reporter: while jill and jessa may defend their brother now, at the time the family put safeguards in place to keep the girls separate from their brother. >> locks on the doors, everybody's in bed. girls in the girls room, boys in the boys room. >> reporter: with the secret no longer locked away perhaps a time of healing. >> we already forgiven josh and moved on. next, on "keeping up with the kardashians", the news was met with tears. tonight, on "becoming us," another family navigating a transgender journey, this time from the kids' point of view. and clearer skin. this is my body of proof that i can fight psoriatic arthritis from the inside out... with humira. humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to both joint and skin symptoms.

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dominated headlines this week and for some with transgentder tram fi members it couldn't come soon enough. choosing to do it on camera on the hopes they say of helping other families. our "nightline" coanchor juju chang has their story tonight. >> this is about your life. >> reporter: bz an ground breaking week for transgender visibility with caitlyn jenner's stunning debut on the cover of "vanity fair." >> caitlyn doesn't have secrets. >> reporter: it seems every glimpse in to her new life like these previews of e! "call me cait." >> we're out in the world. i'm the new normal.

>> it is not just celebrities and their families grappling with gender transitions, meet ben, 17 his mother susie and his father once charlie, now carly. >> famous people don't just do these things. everyday people go through things. >> reporter: their real life story unfolds in the upcoming abc family docu-series becoming us. >> we are a funkal but dysfunctional family. >> reporter: but the twist it is mainly told through the eyes of his teenager son, ben. >> last year, my parents had ended up telling me they were getting divorced. and then they told me my dad wanted to become a woman. and i was like huh? at a certain point in time i noticed my dad had grown boobs. like real boobs. it was like bang. bomb drops and everything changed.

>> i had gotten to a point in transitioning to where i had to go for it. i had to change. >> reporter: otherwise? >> i couldn't see living. i knew who i was. >> it's painful for a whole bunch of people. >> when we decided to end the marriage i had a really, really deep sense of sadness and loss. how could i have missed this? you know what i mean? >> reporter: the show follows ben's journey as he grapples with his dad's transition and his family's changing dynamic. >> so i don't get to do a lot of things i'd like to be able to do in life. you know living the way i'm living. i'm going to be -- i'm going to have surgery. my boy parts will become my girl parts basically. >> ahh. >> how does it make you feel?

>> even more pissed. >> why? >> because it is kind of official my dad is gone. >> why was that so hard? >> it was just like a slap in the face kind of. it was like what? >> still me. still love you. >> i need some air. >> ben reacts by avoiding carly for days. ben's friend aton helps him deal with his pent up emotions. >> give it all you got. let it all out. [ screaming ] . >> it was anger, depression happiness, sadness. it was like everything really. >> reporter: how did that feel? >> it hurt but it felt really good afterwards. >> reporter: carly first told ben she was transgender years earlier when he was 13. how did that hit you? >> it was like my dad died. it was hard. like seeing my dad as a new stranger i have known for so

long. >> reporter: susie says that ben lost his male role model just as he was becoming a man. >> made me furious, really furious. i wanted carly to wait. >> i would say carly waited as long as carly could wait. i feel a great sense of responsibility for the hurt i have caused. i own that. that's mine. but it doesn't change the fact i have to live my life. if what existed today would have existed 25 30 years ago. >> reporter: you would have transitioned then? >> oh yes. >> reporter: back then was different. the couple married in their 20s. >> i was trying to make a life as a man, i really was. >> reporter: later susie found out in counselling sessions that carly was cross dressing. >> reporter: you said you can explore that. >> i was willing to go with it. and then i found pills that turned out to be hormones and i said what are these and he said i was just experimenting with

that. >> reporter: why did you hide it? >> shame and fear. i had a family. i had a home. just didn't know how to manage it. >> reporter: though it has been rough, susie and carly put their differences aside to coparent ben. >> you have an "f" in english. >> wow, dude. >> reporter: in an almost unbelievable real life coincidence, ben's girlfriend danielle has a dad who is transitioning to live as a woman. >> what? we did not set this up for the tv show. >> reporter: her name is sally. >> i have bought sports bras but even those don't do the trick. >> really? >> oh yeah. go for a run without a bra on. >> i can't believe i'm having this conversation with my dad. >> reporter: like ben, danielle convinced her parents to do the show to promote tolerance. >> my dad should be able to walk down the street and not get ridiculed for anything. my dad's a person. he's a human being. he wants to be loved and accepted. it's just -- anybody would want that. >> continuing to have my

daughter as part of my life is one of the most important things that i have today. >> reporter: in the series danielle and ben's common experience allow them to lean on each other for support. >> people are just rude and i don't want to deal with it. >> it's not a normal situation for a kid to go through. like oh my dad likes to dress up like a woman, oh my dad doesn't feel like a man. >> yeah. >> reporter: there are lighthearted moments like when they decide to have carly help carly go bra shopping. >> it is weird to go in to a lingerie store with two fathers that are now women. >> you are probably about a 40 b. >> like my dad is a preteen learning how to wear a bra. >> what was that like for you? >> so awkward. >> letting cameras follow me to go bra shopping was wild. it was wild. >> it was fun to help him break through the fear and realize this is just okay. >> reporter: there's also the

thorny issue of mom and dad titles. >> does carly want you to call her mom? >> yeah. >> has she talked to you about it? >> yeah. i'm not going to do that. if you don't let me call you dad i'm not going to call you mom. >> just call her carly. >> was that hard for you? >> really hard. i'm letting you do what you want to do. just help me out a little bit. >> how would you feel if your kid started to call carly mom. >> i earned that title. >> reporter: it was ben's idea to pitch their life as a tv show. >> i laughed and then stood there and thought, wow, that's a pretty good idea. >> reporter: what made you want to do it? >> to help people. for people dealing with it in their family or their parents becoming trans they don't have anywhere to go or people to look up to. >> it is unprecedented territory for tv viewing. ryan seacrest is the executive producer. >> i hope there is a message

that we are all the same universally we seek love and want to be part of the family unit. >> it is that family angle that is powerfully relatable. >> i want kids out there to know that even though your parent could be transitioning, your brother could be transitioning your sister whatever they are still who they are. just because they are a different gender doesn't make them a different person. >> reporter: the families in "becoming us" say there is a silver lining to it. >> the joy is my spirit is no longer encased. my spirit is free. i can be. she's free. she's happy. >> i'm getting more of who she really is. because charlie was charlie wasn't happy in his skin. >> reporter: as a they transition together viewers see a family bond that seems ultimately unbreakable. >> it's all about love. at the end of the day, family is family. >> you are my son and i love you. >> at them end of the day, you

are my parent. >> parent. and i love you. so don't get it twisted home skillet. >> for "nightline," i'm juju chang in chicago. >> becoming us premiers june 8th at 9 p.m. eastern on abc family. with a few hours before the horses leave the gate everything you need to know about the epic race at the belmont stakes. >> announcer: abc news "nightline," brought to you by volkswagen. (music) boys? stop less. go more. the passat tdi clean diesel with up to 814 hwy miles per tank. just one reason volkswagen is the #1 selling diesel car brand in america.

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it's been nearly four

decades since a horse clinched the triple crown which explains why so many fans are rooting for and betting on american pharoah tomorrow in the belmont stakes. can the front runner finally end the dry spell and cross the finish line in to history? ♪ pop the champagne, dust off the sundresses it's the home stretch before tomorrow's belmont stakes. all eyes on the front runner american pharoah. in a sport based on odds and favorites, it's all about the numbers. eight, how many horses are racing in the 147th belmont stakes. many thousand the number of fans permitted at the track. 224 the track record held by secretariat since '73. 37 the number of years since the horse clinched the triple crown. 13 horses have tried and failed. 1.5. the miles that stand between

starting gate and $800,000 winning finish. and 700 the number of carnations used to make that 40-blanket for the winning horse. undisclosed how many floppy hats will be in attendance. who will you be rooting for tomorrow at the belmont stakes? head to our "nightline" facebook page and let us know. thank you for watching abc news. tune in to "good morning america" tomorrow. as always we are on-line 24/7 at abcnews.com. good night, america. @