The Story of a Pregnant Man

Photo Credit: Mail Online

A husband has revealed how he carried and gave birth to his own daughter - because his wife could not fall pregnant.

Pictured sporting a beard as he showed off his pregnant belly, Chris Rehs-Duping tells how he and his wife Amy met and fell in love in their 20s, working at a children’s summer camp. They always knew they definitely wanted a family.

With Chris - who was born Christina - being a pre-op transgender male, however, they planned for Amy to be the biological mum.

But when five attempts of intrauterine insemination - fertility treatment that involves placing sperm inside a uterus to facilitate fertilizations – failed, Chris volunteered to carry their baby instead.

He finally gave birth to their now two-year-old daughter, Hayden, naturally on December 20, 2014, after five rounds of IUI treatment and a miscarriage.

Amy said: “We went through a lot of fertility treatments, until we finally reached a point where we needed to make a decision as to whether we were going to do more medical intervention or if we were going to switch bodies.

“We were fortunate enough to have two uteruses. So, after a lot of thought and emotion and difficulties we switched to Chris.”

And while Chris lived as a man and didn’t feel female, he was willing to use his womb for the good of their family.

It was another incredible step in this couple’s unique love story.

Chris, 33, who now runs children’s summer camps, explained: “When I went to university in 2007, I knew I wasn’t a woman and it was an easy realization to make.

“I didn’t want to take hormones, because I was happy with who I was and who I was presenting myself as, but I have always been very open with Amy.”

Still, Amy’s love for Chris meant his gender was not an issue.

She added: “By the time I met him, I knew the issue of his gender was at the forefront of his mind. And, eventually, he became more masculine and lived as a man.

Amy confessed: “When Chris was pregnant it was really difficult, because I always thought I would be the one to carry our children.

“It was definitely a strain and it was difficult.”

And while Chris started to experience the physical signs of pregnancy - he was constantly sick and his belly and breasts grew – his changing hormones strangely made his natural goatee beard grow thicker and more prominent.

“Some days, he looked like a man with a beer belly,” Amy joked.

Being pregnant was also a confusing time for Chris.

He admitted: “Being pregnant is such a female thing and that’s when I started to question that it was not what I was.

“Some people think men aren’t supposed to carry children, that’s the world we live in. So, I feel like the world would see it as emasculating, that it would make me less trans but not the case for me.

Sadly, though, Amy didn’t produce enough, so they decided together that Chris would breastfeed Hayden after all.

Then, in January 2016, he began having testosterone injections every 10 days, while Amy fell pregnant in the same month, on her first attempt.

While the baby grew, Chris was undergoing his transition. His facial hair grew, his shoulders broadened and his features became more masculine.

And their experiences, running in tandem, brought them closer.

“When I was the pregnant one, because I had a husband who had been there before, it was different. He understood what I was going through, what I was feeling. It was a benefit that not a lot of women have,” Amy said.

Amy said: “We’ve been on an incredible journey as a family, but we have two amazing kids and Chris is finally happy in his own body.”

He added: “We would love to have a third child. I hope to have breast reconstruction surgery, but will not have a bottom surgery, or have my ovaries removed, so I haven’t ruled out carrying it." 

Credits: Mirror