Men Can Also Give Birth

Male pregnancies are alien to mammals, but this phenomenon is the universal reproductive mode of pipefishes, seahorses and sea dragons. In these organisms, the male is the gender that carries the baby and not the woman.

In humans, however, only the person assigned female at birth is known to give birth to progeny. However, being assigned as female at birth does not necessarily mean the person has to express the feelings of being a female. Many a times, the person feels of themselves as a male and then they undergo gender reassignment surgery and change themselves to a more masculine side.

Pregnancy is perceived as a more feminine quality and that a man is usually only the supportive side of the whole process. But some transgender men have shown an infliction towards becoming pregnant while retaining their identity as a male.

Some transgender men can become pregnant. This is possible for those who have retained their functioning ovaries and uterus even after having completely transitioned to a trans male. The prior medications and hormones that they have been taking to transition to a male does not and will not hinder in their whole pregnancy process. The pregnancy in trans male is similar to that seen in cis gender females, there is not much difference in their journeys.

According to the study "Transgender Men Who Experienced Pregnancy After Female-to-Male Gender Transitioning" by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, there is lack of awareness and medical assistance available to pregnant trans men. This led to complications in their pregnancies. According to the study, the pregnant trans men often suffer from gender dysphoria because of the sudden change in appearance and the way the public addressed their identity.

According to the Obstetrics and Gynaecology, more than 40 trans men gave birth in the first half of 2014. A NPR article in 2014 suggested that more than 1000 were trying to get pregnant. According to a survey by Medicare in Australia it was found that 75 people who identified as transgender men gave birth naturally or via surgery in 2016 and 40 of them gave birth in 2017.

Sally Hines, an associate professor of sociology and gender studies at the University of Leeds, said this when she was questioned on her study on trans male pregnancies and their legal struggles - “As for legal challenges, parental roles are underwritten with gendered assumptions about who is a man/woman, mother/father. So it’s very hard to socially and culturally separate parenting roles from gender. This has impacts on law (i.e., parental recognition on birth certificates) and on health care, education and welfare structures that may not recognize the parental role (as father) of a man who has given birth. This is also hugely complicated in relation to different laws around gender recognition more broadly. Also lack of understanding equals stigmatization. The phenomenon of male pregnancy brings challenges to law not just around gender recognition but around recognition of family diversity. Legislatively, these issues vary hugely across countries.”

Trans men find it difficult to find appropriate medical facilities because of various reasons, one is that the doctors or the midwives are not trained on how to handle a pregnant trans male and also because of the stereotype that is associated with pregnancy connecting it only with a female.

Thomas Beatie, a transgender man, has borne three children. He took this decision when he and his wife, Nancy found out that she was infertile. Thomas wrote an article about the experience in The Advocate. The Washington Post further broadened the story on March 25 when blogger Emil Steiner called Beatie the first "legally" pregnant man on record, in reference to certain states' and federal legal recognition of Beatie as male, though partially male. In 2010, Guinness World Records recognized Beatie as the world's "First Married Man to Give Birth.”