In 2020, Brandon Jenner contributed to a collection of essays titled To Me He Was Just Dad: Stories of Growing Up With Famous Fathers. Brandon's essay was emotionally tough, as he reveals that he saw his dad only a handful of times between the ages of 8 and 25.
Brandon also writes about what his mother, Linda Thompson, went through when Caitlyn left her and begin to date Kris Jenner.
In his essay, Brandon Jenner reveals the pain his mother experienced at the beginning of his dad's relationship with Kris. He explains, "A few years after my parents divorced, Dad apparently decided that it wasn’t the right time to transition and had many of his surgeries reversed."
"After that, his relationship with my mother [Linda Thompson] grew more hostile. She had worked hard to accept that the reason he couldn’t be with her was because he was working towards transitioning."
"When he started dating Kris Jenner, whom he would go on to marry, that line of reasoning fell apart. It was tremendously painful. The effect of my parents’ souring relationship was that I didn’t see my father more than half a dozen times between ages eight and 25."
Linda has also written her own memoir in which she details what the experience was like for her. She writes, "My happiness was complete until that day when Brody was 18 months old and Brandon was just about 3½ and my remarkable husband came to me one day and said, ‘I need to tell you something about myself.’"
She continued, "And he said, 'I identify as a woman.' He said, 'I am a woman … I would like to become female on the exterior, because I've always been female on the inside.'"
Linda adds, "It was earth-shattering. It was devastating. People can’t understand. ‘You must’ve had some kind of idea.’ No, nunca, nada, never, nothing."
Ultimately, Linda began the process of trying to have compassion for her ex. She achieved this until Caitlyn reportedly decided to stop her transition process after starting to date Kris Jenner. The two would go on to get married and have two children together.
After Caitlyn's transition in 2015, Linda Thompson commented, "I think, more than anything, it’s been a relief for Caitlyn to be able to emerge as her true self. And we love her … But when I first met her, she was in a Bruce Jenner body. He was just an incredible person. Still is. I have since said to her, 'You’ve got to give yourself credit. You know, you kicked manhood’s butt.'"
