Transgender Man Gives Birth To Baby Boy
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A transgender man has given birth to a boy with his partner of seven years.
CNN reports, Trystan Reese, a transgender man from Portland, Oregon, gave birth to a Leo Murray Chaplow on July 14.
Leo is Trystan and his partner Biff's first biological child, but they already have two other children they are raising through adoption.
The couple posted pictures of Leo to Facebook and wrote that both were in good health after the birth.
The couple's pregnancy was widely reported when they made the announcement in January.
Reese, who was assigned the female gender at birth, posted a video to Facebook in March explaining his decision to carry a baby as a transgender man.
"I'm OK with my body being a trans body," he said. "I'm OK being a man who has a uterus and has the capacity and capability of carrying a baby."
Reese told CNN in June that he had stopped taking testosterone to prepare for the pregnancy.
"We've been under medical supervision the entire time," he said, "to make it as healthy and safe as possible."
The couple told CNN that in addition to the "normal pregnancy stuff" like cravings — Reese's was French fries from McDonald's — the couple has had to face criticism and negativity online.
"We find that behind the shroud of anonymity, people feel pretty empowered to tell us what should happen to us, to our children, to our family," Reese said. "The reason why you have a kid is because you want to see more love in the world, and remembering how difficult that's going to be, it's hard."
The couple says since Leo was born, they've received an outpouring of support from around the world.