Trans Men Giving Birth and Reflections on Fatherhood: What to Expect?

Abstract

What was long feared by legislators and courts has now become reality: trans men give birth to their own children and request to be designated as their ‘fathers’ for the purpose of birth registration. This article sheds light on the transformative potential of such procreative scenarios and the following legal claims for fatherhood. An argument is made that they invite essential reflections on what it means to be a father today and, in so doing, they prompt a (re)construction of legal fatherhood which includes care as a relevant, paternal parameter. By focusing on ongoing cases decided by English and German courts, however, this article shows that domestic courts’ understanding of fatherhood has essentially preserved its conventionally heteronormative, biological, and mediated nature. Yet, the game is still open and an application pending before the European Court of Human Rights may breathe fresh air into the debate.

Uterus transplantation: from research, through human trials and into the future

“…The potential expansion of UTx to transgender people also raises ethical concerns regarding the appropriate designation of parenthood ( Hamidian Jahromi et al , 2023 ). Similar issues have arisen in UK regarding transgender men who subsequently became pregnant and gave birth who, despite changing their gender to male, were assigned as legal mothers for the purpose of birth registration ( Margaria, 2021 ). With advances in technologies, such as UTx, that have sharpened the distinctions between genetic, gestational, and social parenthood, questions remain regarding how best to map differing conceptions of parenthood onto a legal context.…”

Effective Communication About Pregnancy, Birth, Lactation, Breastfeeding and Newborn Care: The Importance of Sexed Language

“…The long-established sexed meanings are that “woman” means an adult of the female sex 2 , and “mother” means a female parent ( 36 ). However, when new Queer Theory-informed gendered meanings are applied, “woman” means an adult with a gender identity of “woman,” and “mother” means a parent with a gender identity of “woman” ( 37 ). The same principles apply to sexed and gendered understandings of “man” and “father.” In this paper, and the associated Supplementary Materials , unless otherwise stated, we use the sexed meanings of these words.…”