TRANSGENDER PARENT KACI
contact. He was forced to leave his admin job, but said the move left him “totally liberated”.
Kaci began his gender transition by taking male hormone testosterone and having a double mastectomy.
He met production worker Steven, 27, in 2014 through online dating and they “hit it off straight away”.
The pair had a false pregnancy scare in 2016, which led to them trying for a baby after Kaci stopped taking male hormones for health reasons. Six months later, he conceived naturally and on November 11, Kaci gave birth to Phoenix, who weighed 8lbs 9oz.
He is feeding the child with breast milk provided by donors.
Kaci documented the pregnancy and birth with photos, Facebook posts and YouTube channel My Trans Pregnancy to create a resource for other transgender parents.
He said: “As my bump grew bigger and bigger, I got nervous going out in public because people would stare. They noticed my abnormal shape.
“There was a lot of anxiety but the most important thing for me was sending the message that pregnancy is not a gendered thing.
“I don’t see pregnancy as inherently feminine and as I don’t subscribe to make-believe gender roles.
“I wasn’t threatened by the idea of pregnancy. It didn’t make me feel any less masculine.”
The couple do not want to reveal the baby’s sex and will raise it as gender neutral until it is old enough to decide for itself.
Kaci said he refuses to answer the question “is it a boy or a girl” as he believes that is irrelevant.
He added: “Nobody but your child should be revealing their gender.”
Kaci and Steven will dress Phoenix in non-gendered clothes and provide a wide variety of toys, so they can “express themselves in the way that feels right”.
Kaci, who said the child will call him “dad”, added: “Our sex and gender identity have nothing to do with socially constructed gender roles.”