Kerala trans man pregnant, couple set to welcome baby in March

A transgender couple from Kozhikode in Kerala will become the country's first openly transgender parents. The couple is expecting their first child.

Zahad Paval, a 23-year-old trans man who became pregnant during conception in India, will welcome the boy in March. The 21-year-old trans woman who is Paval's partner, Ziya, revealed in her recent Instagram post about the pregnancy.

“When we started living together three years ago, we thought that our lives should be different from those of other transsexuals. Most transgender couples are boycotted by both society and their families. We wanted a baby, to leave behind something of ourselves even after our days in this world are numbered,” said Paval, a classical dance teacher.

Zahad, who was assigned a female at birth, and his partner, who is transitioning from male to female, halted the transition process last year so they could become parents, The Indian Express reported.

Doctors removed Zahad's breasts, but not her reproductive organs, so the couple was able to conceive.

Sahad and Paval have been living together as a transgender couple for the past three years. While Paval is from Kozhikode, Sahad, who worked as an accountant before going on maternity leave, is from Thiruvananthapuram. Both left their families after realizing their transgender identity, the report said.

Since then, they have undergone hormone therapy as part of the gender transition process. Paval said that they made the decision to have a child after much thought.

“Sahad had already had both breasts removed and we had both gone ahead with hormone treatment. In our longing to have a baby, we stopped the process,” Paval said.

Couple previously planned to adopt child

According to a Manorama report, the couple had previously planned to adopt a child and inquired about the process. However, because they are a transgender couple, the legal proceedings were difficult for them.

The idea that Zahad, still biologically female, could conceive a child came naturally to them, though Zahad was hesitant to return to the femininity she was in the process of rejecting. But Ziya's (born male) desire to become a mother influenced Zahad's decision.

A team of doctors from the Kozhikode Medical College confirmed that there was no physical difficulty in conceiving, despite the fact that they were both undergoing a gender transformation.

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