Secret Selves: How Their Changes Changed Me

by Jamie Johnson

As a mom, there’s no escaping the deep-rooted need to keep your children on the right path. But what if one of your teenage kids thinks the path to happiness is through a sex change? And what if the other, while flailing around, trying to find his way, pops out five alternate personalities? Teenage suicide keeps creeping into your thoughts. Some parents face that risk once... but twice? How do you keep from having a nervous breakdown? How do you help the entire family find peace again? Secret Selves is the surprising, touching, and sometimes humorous account of a mother trying to ease the panic and accept the unthinkable twists fate has dropped in her lap. Jamie Johnson’s memoir is a deeply personal account of her family’s struggles and triumphs. It is shared with courage and honesty. Johnson explains how even her doubts and mistakes while raising her two very interesting children helped her to see life through different eyes. A heartwarming story about what it means to love. A story about hope.

330 pages, Paperback

First published November 20, 2011

Reviews

[Courtney Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes you pick a book to read expecting one thing and close the cover after the last page having discovered something entirely different. “Secret Selves” is a book covering two very difficult topics that at times left my jaw falling open with surprise or my cheeks wet with tears. The journey covered in this book of Johnson’s two sons, between child and adulthood is filled with challenges that are even more difficult than the notoriously difficult passage is universally known for.

The lasting ‘gift’ I gained from reading this often painful, sometimes hilarious but always beautifully honest book is the love that exists between families. That the essence of a person is their truth and ultimately what will be the strength to carry them through the challenges of life. That life isn’t what you expect, but with acceptance, understanding and hope there can be a kind of happily ever after.

[Lynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a compelling true account of one family’s journey through Gender Identity Disorder and Dissociative Identity Disorder, medical conditions that most of us will never have to deal with. It’s about hearing your daughter tell you that inside, she is a boy, and trying to figure out what the hell that means! It’s about learning that your son has more than one personality and the battle to find a professional who could help him. It’s about accepting, even when, at first, we don’t understand. It’s about heartache and joy and secrets and family. It’s about transformation. It’s about the resilience of a mother’s love. I thought this book might be good – I didn’t expect it to be ….. AMAZING!!!!! I cannot recommend it highly enough.

[Alex Binkley · Rating 4 out of 5]

An insightful and at times painful insider's look at raising a transgendered child as well as a mentally troubled son. The author lays out all her emotions for the reader to share--denial, dumbfounded and then acceptance. Talk about a labor of love. Reading it is a learning experience.