Transgender Teen Update

Peggy, Jason and Jake's mother, says it's difficult knowing she's played a part in her son's emotional state. "I see the sadness on [Jason's] face. I feel my children's pain," she says. "I should have been more aware of what was going on."

Like most teens, Jason says he expected to go through a rebellious phase, but he didn't think his issues would manifest as an eating disorder. "I figured that once everything kind of cooled down, I'd be able to kind of go off and be the rebellious teen, the one that got to make some mistakes," he says. "I didn't really see all the issues that I'm dealing with would happen, but I knew that I'd be dealing with something."

Over time, Jason says he and his brother stopped speaking as often and his personal relationships started to suffer. "I definitely saw that maybe it was harder to connect to other people, because I wasn't as in touch with myself," he says.

To begin living more authentically, Jason recently told his parents he's dating a guy. "I definitely didn't want to disappoint my parents. I felt that mom was dealing with enough," he says. "It would throw off her sense of at least she had one normal kid."