A pair of gay dads has spoken of their delight as they prepare to welcome their first biological child.
Biff Chaplow and Trystan Reese are already adoptive parents to two young children Riley and Hailey, but the couple had always longed for a baby of their own.
Trystan, who is transgender, first managed to conceive in 2016 but they suffered the heartbreak of a miscarriage at six weeks. They had considered waiting up to a year before trying again.
But because of the medical complications of Trystan having to go off testosterone, they decided to continue. And the married couple, who live in Portland, Oregon, have confirmed Trystan is due to give birth in the summer.
In a post on their website, Trystan said that he felt some people are interested to know why he wanted to become pregnant as a transgender person, but were too afraid to ask.
He said that some people think “trans people were born into the wrong bodies, and we really hate our bodies, and that’s why we need to transition.”
“For me, just transitioning normally – taking testosterone so that I have a beard and my voice is deep as it’s ever gonna get – and appear like a man… that’s enough for me.
“I never felt like I needed to change my body.
“And I for sure do not hate my body
“I feel like my body is awesome, I feel like it’s a gift to have been born with the body that I did.
“So if you can start to understand that, then it starts to make more sense that it would not seem totally bizarre for me to want to create and carry a baby.