Man Gives Birth To Baby In North Iceland

One Icelander has just set a historical precedent by being “the first trans man in Iceland to have a baby during a gender transition process.”

GayIceland reports that Henrý Steinn, a 19-year-old trans man from the north of Iceland, gave birth to a baby girl last April 13. Henrý carried the child to term for the full nine months, and while the birth process itself was not without its hiccups, it otherwise went off without a hitch, and he is now breastfeeding his daughter.

“I was well into the consultation and was living as a man but was about one or two months away from starting the hormone treatment when I found out I was pregnant,” he said. “It would probably have been less likely for me to fall pregnant after that, but not impossible, so everybody’s saying I was meant to have her!”

Furthermore, medical staff who assisted with the birth were reportedly nothing but supportive every step of the way.

“My midwife was very understanding and supportive,” he said. “I think she might have used the wrong pronoun about once and then there was the odd awkward word in between because the whole lingo is obviously aimed at women. But she was great. Then I explained everything in my hospital report and my mum, who was present at the delivery, did a good job reminding everybody that I am a man, so it wasn’t an issue. I do realise that it’s almost always women who give birth; I’m the first trans man in Iceland to have a baby during a gender transition process.”

For now, Henrý and his partner, Þórir Leó Pétursson, are taking it easy while on paternity leave, and focusing on getting their family in order.

“We’ve talked about not emphasising anything gender specific during her first years, not to focus on the colour pink and such,” Henrý said. “And then, when she starts having her own opinion on what to wear and stuff, she’ll be free to choose whatever she wants. I myself was given much freedom once I started to have an opinion on what to wear; I wore mostly sports clothes because I found them comfortable and was very happy to have the freedom to make my own choices.”