Freddy McConnell

As a trans dad, I know these words matter—and that LGBTQ, adoptive, and donor-conceived families are as real as any other kind.

In the UK and across Europe, trans parents have almost zero legal recognition. However, safe havens are emerging—it’s just a question of getting there.

For soon-to-be trans parents, laboring and birthing in the private, predictable environment of home is sometimes the safest option.

Acceptance from loved ones is hugely helpful, but we still need better trans awareness in healthcare.

When I overhear a fellow preggo order decaf, I want to yell, “Even the straight, cis male doctors say it’s safe to drink five cups of coffee a day!”

Before my IUI, it felt like I was enduring gender dysphoria for no reason while off testosterone. But this fertility treatment worked right away.

Reconsidering my approach to fertility made me wonder how much data around what works reflects the reality of life for LGBTQ+ people.

Call it arrogance or naive optimism, but I started writing before I conceived because I thought this stage would only take a couple of months.

Of course, it’s my choice. But it’s also a trans masc nightmare.

We need to address the psychological impact of being marginalized, to stop dismissing it as a result of individual weakness or as merely a symptom of systemic inequality.

The perfect example of the sensational story—one which erases minority experience while also giving it massively exaggerated significance—is that of the “pregnant man!”

“A system coping with COVID-19 is not going to be better equipped to welcome an anomaly like me in months to come, and that’s a scary thought.”