'It would have ruined my whole life': Caitlyn Jenner doesn't regret not transitioning when she was young
Caitlyn Jenner would have "ruined [her] whole life" if she'd transitioned as a child and she had a "phenomenal" time professionally and personally when she was still Bruce Jenner.
Caitlyn Jenner would have "ruined [her] whole life" if she'd transitioned as a child.
The 74-year-old star - who has six children and four stepkids from her three marriages - came out as trans in 2015 but she doesn't regret not going through the process to change gender earlier in her life because she is so proud of all she achieved as Bruce Jenner.
Asked if she envies how much easier it is for those with gender dysphoria to access help and support from a young age now, she told the Daily Telegraph newspaper: ‘Here’s the deal. I would not want to grow up in today’s society.
"Our society that we grew up in, we had the luxury of being naive. We didn’t know everything. I couldn’t even find a therapist, I was in my 30s before I could find a therapist, the first person that I ever talked to about it, and it was ridiculously difficult finding someone.
"Today they just go online, couple of clicks, and boom you find a hundred therapists.
"Now, if I was growing up today… and I had my maths teacher in sixth grade talking about gender ideology and I would be sitting there in the classroom and thinking, 'Holy c***, they’re talking about me!' and then they’d send you to the school shrink and they’d say, 'Well, you know, you’re gender dysphoric and you need to correct that right now and you need to get on hormone blockers,' and I’d say, 'Is that what I need to do?' and it would have ruined my whole life. Ruined it!
"There’d be no sports, no Olympics, I had wonderful families, wonderful kids, I have had a phenomenal, phenomenal life. I have no regrets whatsoever."
Asked what she'd tell campaigneers who suggest she'd have had a better life if she'd transitioned earlier, she added: "No. Totally wrong! No! I had my life and I had a phenomenal life. I transitioned when it was the right time for me."
Caitlyn still feels she has "little Bruce" inside of her and she still holds her former self "in high esteem".
Asked if her memories of winning Olympic gold are diminished by the fact she was a man at the time, she said: "Bruce. Did. Great!
"I hold him in high esteem. ‘I am extraordinarily proud of everything he was able to accomplish in his life.
"I’m extraordinarily proud of Bruce being a great father to 10 children. Every one of my kids has lived extraordinarily productive lives. They’re good citizens, they’re good people, they’re good parents.
"I’m proud of that section of my life, there was just always this thing inside that I just couldn’t get rid of.
"I always used to think of it as, everybody saw Bruce, and little Caitlyn was always just living inside. Now Caitlyn has a chance to live and little Bruce now lives inside. I love all those memories, I’ve had a great life. I wouldn’t change a thing."
