Caitlyn Jenner is ready to shed some new light when it comes to her previous marriages.
In the Olympic athlete's headline-making cover and interview with Vanity Fair, the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star first opens up about her relationship with Linda Thompson.
After welcoming two children and experiencing four years of marriage, Caitlyn finally told Linda about her gender dysphoria.
"The gender issues were big at that time," Caitlyn recalled in the new issue out June 9. "I had ignored them for so long, but I was aging." She ultimately started going on hormones, had her beard removed and had plastic surgery on her nose.
(With the release of her Vanity Fair cover on June 1, Caitlyn has chosen to publicly identify as a woman and E! News will refer to her using female pronouns. In stories published prior to this date, Caitlyn was referred to as Bruce and male pronouns were used.)
"I thought my pain doesn't compare to the pain that he's in," Linda told the publication after realizing the circumstances. "At least I'm comfortable living in my own body." The couple ultimately divorced in 1986 before Caitlyn stopped her transition four years later.
At that time, Caitlyn decided to "get back in the game" and was set up with Kris Jenner. They hit it off immediately and said "I Do" seven months later. Today, both acknowledge some disagreements in regards to some aspects of the transition.
"When I met Bruce, he told me that he had done hormones back in the early ‘80s. This was a conversation that took place in the early ‘90s," Kris explained. "So, what he was telling me happened a decade earlier, and he never really explained it…Nobody mentioned a gender issue."
Looking back, the self-proclaimed momager wishes her ex would have explained her gender dysphoria before they were divorced. "It was the most passive-aggressive thing I think I've ever experienced," Kris told the publication.
With deeper understanding, Caitlynn understands her ex-wife's pain and concern. But for now, all they can do is move forward.
"Probably a mistake I made was maybe not having her understand—not the severity of it but that this is a condition you cannot get away from," she shared. "From that standpoint, maybe I blew it away a little bit, sort of ‘This is what I do.'"
She added, "I have made a lot of mistakes raising the four Jenner kids. I had times not only dealing with my own issues but exes. [It was] very traumatic and there was a lot of turmoil in my life."
Learn more about what it means to be transgender from GLAAD. If someone you love is transgender, contact PFLAG.