NEWS

A decade into sex-change, a surprise pregnancy

Elizabeth Armstrong Moore

Newser staff

Kayden Coleman (foreground), his husband Elijah and their 22-month-old biological daughter Azaelia.

(NEWSER) – In 2013, about a year after they started dating, Kayden and Elijah Coleman of Philadelphia found themselves rushing to tie the knot. Kayden, who was born female but was at that point a decade into gender reassignment therapy, had stopped taking hormones for six weeks to undergo a double mastectomy, and soon learned that his aching back and bloated belly were in fact clues that he was 21 weeks pregnant, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. Now Kayden, who is 29, and Elijah, who is 27, have taken to Instagram and YouTube to document their unique story as they raise their now 22-month-old daughter Azaelia. Many social media followers are supportive, with one person commenting, "You guys are real, funny and so cute! Praying for your continued love for each other, baby and blessings!"

Life hasn't been all roses since Kayden's pregnancy forced his status as a transgender man into the open, reports the New York Daily News. Not only did it lead to a brief rift with Elijah's family, but Kayden's growing belly drew awkward glances, and one woman told him in a shop, "Honey, you look like you’re pregnant!" He applauds the doctors and nurses but also says he felt like "an experiment" during his four-day labor, and struggled through postpartum depression for a year. "Now it feels great," Kayden tells the Daily Mirror. "I couldn’t imagine, and don’t want to imagine, life without her. She is amazing." Azaelia calls Kayden "Daddy" and Elijah "Poppy," and her parents plan to tell her about the unusual pregnancy when she is 5. "As long as Azaelia is loved and cared for, I doubt she’ll care." (Kayden isn't the first man to become pregnant.)

This story originally appeared on Newser:

How Two Gay Men Have a Biological Daughter