Natalie Kitroeff

And she started –

It was a tool, but it had like a screwdriver on it.

And I think she was using that to scrape herself, to cut herself.

So I kept seeing these marks on her arm.

And I said, what are those?

You know, she was like, oh, I just was scratching my arm.

It was, of course, all very alarming to Allie's parents.

At home, they took her to their bedroom, sat her down, and started asking questions.

What was actually going on with her?

What was this feeling she was texting her friends about?

And this poem that wasn't a poem, was this really how she felt about her body?

I remember just having questions about the poem.

I get...

You know, ask, you know, is she okay?

I mean, these are the things that were in my head because it sounded awful the way she said she was feeling.

And, you know, I also wanted to know, like, is this just a poem?

At a certain point, something clicked for Allie's mom.

She remembered this thing she'd read about called gender dysphoria, the idea that the gender you feel doesn't match your biological sex.

And...

So I started Googling that and said, you know, is this what you're feeling?