American transgender man, Kayden Coleman, who already has two kids, has narrated his traumatic pregnancy experiences.
Coleman, 34, who has a seven-year-old named Azaelia and a 10-month old named Jurnee, spoke on the Today show.
The Houston, Texas-based educator stated that he missed out on the “perks” of pregnancy because no one held the door for him, fussed over his growing belly or made him feel special in the way that pregnant women are sometimes treated.
However, he said that he didn’t live in fear of suffering violence because people “thought I had a beer belly”.
An advocate, Coleman is one of several individuals educating the public and the medical community on what it is like for transgender people to navigate pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum experience.
Coleman described both his pregnancies as “very tumultuous”, explaining that “most of that came from inside the birthing world, with medical professionals. There was a lot of questioning about my identity, a lot of misgendering. Being told I shouldn’t be in spaces I was seeking care from because they were considered women’s spaces. I was offered an abortion a ridiculous amount of times.”
Coleman began transitioning from female to male in 2009, but has not had genital construction surgery, and has kept his female reproductive organs.
In March 2013, he had a mastectomy to remove his breasts and stopped temporarily taking testosterone.
He said he discovered he was pregnant five months after taking in and gave birth to his first daughter in 2014.
Coleman said he was again taken by surprise when he became pregnant for a second time in January 2020.