A transgender man who underwent a mastectomy while transitioning in Italy was found to be five months pregnant joining a rare group of the “seahorse dads.”
The parent-to-be, referred to
only as “Marco” in Italian media, already had a breast removal op and was
preparing to get rid of the uterus when the pregnancy was discovered at a
hospital in Rome, the Telegraph reported.
“Having discovered the
pregnancy the first thing to do is to suspend [hormone] therapy immediately,”
Dr. Giulia Senofonte, an endocrinologist, told La Repubblica, the news outlet
that first reported it.
The expert on gender therapy
warned that the fetus could be at risk.
“If the halting of the therapy
is not immediate, there could be consequences, especially in the first
trimester of pregnancy, which is an important time for the development of the baby’s
organs,” Senofonte said.
“It’s difficult to talk about
it in abstract terms but it all depends on the timing of the suspension of the
dosages of testosterone that the person is taking,” she added.
High levels of male and female
hormones in the parent’s body carries cardiological risk because of possible
blood pressure and coagulation problems, Senofonte said, according to the Times
of London.
“Hormone therapy blocks the
menstrual cycle but it is not a contraceptive. The person can continue to
ovulate and, consequently, runs the risk of pregnancy,” she said.
“People dealing with transition
usually recommend contraceptive pills that can be used during hormone therapy,”
the expert added.
Marco, who is expected to go
through with the pregnancy, will be the child’s biological mom but will be
registered legally as the dad, according to La Repubblica
The unusual case, believed to
be the first of its kind in Italy makes him a member of a tiny group of people
known as “seahorse dads,” transgender men who carry babies, the Telegraph
reported.
The term is derived from the
fact that among seahorses, the males carry and give birth to their young.
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