Transgender dad’s privacy fight lost
The first transgender man to give birth and seek to be listed as the child’s father on the birth certificate has lost a high court case to protect his privacy.
Freddy McConnell, 32, from Deal, transitioned from female to male and obtained a gender recognition certificate before giving birth in 2018.
However, he was told by a registrar that he could only be registered as the child’s mother on the official document.
He’s since been fighting a judicial review in the family division of the high court to amend that decision and argued that he shouldn’t be named in the media for fear he and his child could be victimised and bullied. However, media organisations joined forces to request that order was lifted, arguing that Mr McConnell had been cooperating with a documentary about his experiences.
Seahorse, which has already been shown at film festivals and is expected in cinemas from August 30 this year, documents Mr McConnell’s conception journey, pregnancy and the birth of his child.
It uses his real name, although there is no reference to his claim to be registered as the child’s father.
It was also recognised that Mr McConnell had been interviewed by the Guardian, where he also works as a multimedia journalist, with the article published in April this year.
Judge Sir Andrew McFarlane therefore ruled to lift the reporting restriction, stating there is a “genuine public interest in the question of law and human rights which lies at the centre of this case.”