Hour.ca – Josey Vogels
You’re strolling through the park and you happen upon the intimate scene of a mother breastfeeding her baby under a tree. How sweet, you think, and before looking away – because your mother always told you it’s not polite to stare – you notice the cropped hair and full beard. Seems mommy is actually a daddy. Breastfeeding his baby.
This isn’t the only awkward type of scenario to arise when a female-to-male (FTM) transsexual decides to have a baby.
Imagine walking around looking like a man nine months pregnant – and it’s not a beer belly. Or how the staff at the hospital is going to react when you show up at the delivery room – and you’re not the one handing out the cigars.
FTM transsexuals face unique challenges when it comes to parenting, explains R, who was speaking on the topic at the Guelph Sexuality Conference this year and asked me not to identify him publicly because of his job situation.