Transgender man makes history with pregnancy

This 11 November 2015 photo courtesy of Fernando Machado shows him, left, taking a selfie with his partner Diane Rodriguez in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Photo courtesy: AP

A transgender couple is making headlines around the world with a unique pregnancy as the daddy-to-be is carrying the baby of his partner.

‘Fernando Machado and Diane Rodriguez announced their pregnancy, believed to be the first of its kind in South America, on social media earlier this month and it’s received widespread attention in a continent that has seen a sudden explosion in the rights and visibility of trans people’ reported The Associated Press.

‘Rodriguez, who was born Luis, is one of Ecuador’s most-prominent LGBT activists and says she and her Venezuelan-born partner, whose birth name was Maria, decided to publicise the pregnancy to help change attitudes in the staunchly Roman Catholic society.’

‘Although both take hormones, neither has undergone gender-reassignment surgery, so the child-to-be was conceived the old-fashioned way with no known medical complications to date.’

‘We’re trying to break the myths about transsexuality,’ said Rodriguez.

‘So far, church leaders have remained silent, something that Rodriguez says both surprises and pleases here.’

‘The church is always criticising gays and homosexuals for adopting children, so it would be a contradiction to criticise us for giving birth naturally,’ she said from her home in Guayaquil.

‘The trans community has made major advances across South America. About six months ago, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos issued a decree allowing individuals to change their gender on the national ID cards with little more than a trip to a public notary. To date, at least 340 people have made the switch.’

‘Argentina has gone even further with legislation guaranteeing free hormone treatment and gender reassignment surgery.’

‘However, trans people still face widespread discrimination in the region. Between 2008 and 2011, 79 percent of the murders of transgender people reported throughout the world took place in Latin America, with a total of 664 cases, according to a study by the International AIDS Alliance.’