A TRANSGENDER man who gave birth to a baby boy during the coronavirus pandemic had a nurse walk out of his delivery because she kept calling him a woman.
Andie Hosch, 23, and his partner decided to try for a baby one year ago – while he was transitioning with the use of hormones and undergoing surgery.
Despite knowing that they wanted to have a child of their own, Andie struggled with “internalized transphobia” making him feel as though he should not have a child as a man.
“I definitely never expected a desire to carry a child. I always thought that was never something I’d be able to do so didn’t give it much thought,” he said.
“But I started seeing some other transgender people getting pregnant that and I started exploring the idea and unlearning the internalized transphobia that told me I couldn’t be a man who could birth a child.
“A part of me was me feeling as though I shouldn’t want to carry a child because of internalized beliefs about what it means ‘to be a man’ and that somehow carrying a child invalidated my gender.”
But after Andie overcame his internal battle, he and his partner, Gregory Azevedo, a 43-year-old sales worker, starting trying for a child and quickly became pregnant.
However, despite finally feeling comfortable with his choice of becoming a father, Andie said that his friends were not so supportive of his decision.
“I did in fact loose some people I considered friends over my decision to get pregnant because they believed I was ‘loosing myself,’ since in their minds I couldn’t possibly be a man who wanted to carry a child.”
“I’ve also experienced a few internet trolls, nothing too over the top or hard to handle.
“I had one person continue to make new accounts after blocking each one, I ended up with a block list of 10 of the same persons different accounts – mainly people telling me I’m ‘not a real man.’
“Strangers in public were more confused than anything, especially the regular customers I had at work, when I told them I was pregnant they were confused.”
Regardless of what his friends and strangers think, Andie believes that by becoming pregnant his “sense of identity and confidence in my gender has only been strengthened.”
On April 27 2020, after 30 hours in labor, Andie gave birth to his 7lbs 10oz son Taylor Terry Hosch-Azevedo during the pandemic.
However, even during his labor the dad was misgendered multiple times and one nurse even left the birth.
“The first nurse I had misgendered me, I had to correct her a few times and then she ended up excusing herself from my labor since she didn’t believe she would be able to use the correct pronouns and parental terms for me,” Andie said.
“My obstetrician doctor and I made sure it was front and center on my chart and I created a sign for the door as well.
“Everybody else did an amazing job and I was so grateful to all of them.”From then on I was called ‘dad’ and they utilized the correct pronouns.”
In 2018, Andie started taking testosterone and had “top surgery” to remove his breasts in July of the same year.
When he began trying for a baby, he had to stop taking the hormone so that he could become pregnant, but hopes to return to the prescription next week.
“We have to wait until my body is healed and then since I have had top surgery and will not attempt to chestfeed at all, there is no need to wait longer,” he explained.
The new dad also said that he is not sure if he will ever have further surgery to remove his female genitalia as he would like to have the option of having more children.
He said: “Personally I’m not sure if I’ll want to have any more surgeries and for the time being on testosterone will make me perfectly content for now.
“I’m not sure if I’d like to have more children yet, but I’m definitely open to the idea of having more – which I didn’t think would be the case prior to getting pregnant.”
Andie believes that cutting ties with people who disagreed with his decision and finding the most understanding doctors were key to making him feel comfortable.
He would advise other transgender men who are looking to start a family to “build yourself a great support network – there are going to be people who disagree with your decision but my strong support network who were there for me made all the difference.”
He added: “Also find a doctor you like and if you have one you don’t like get another one, there is nothing wrong with switching doctors if they aren’t 100 percent for your best interest.
“The bottom line of all of it, is if carrying a child is something you want to do, then do it.
“It has been the biggest blessing of my life to be able to bring a life into this world and I am eternally grateful I made this decision.”
