A transgender couple from the south Indian state of Kerala has become the first in the country to have a baby. “Tears of joy rolled down,” the transgender woman wrote in a post with a newborn on the social network. Instagramannouncing that the partner had given birth.
The couple did not reveal the sex of the newborn to avoid the practice of “marking” the baby as a boy or a girl at birth.
According to British newspaper Independenttwo people were undergoing a gender reassignment procedure but decided to stop treatment in order to be able to become parents.
“When we started living together three years ago, we thought that our lives should be different from the lives of other transgender people,” the transgender woman said, noting that “most transgender couples are discriminated against by society, as well as their families.”
The woman adds that the couple wanted the child to leave something of their own in the world, even if the days are “numbered”.
In accordance with Independenttransgender people were officially recognized as a “third gender” in India in 2014, but despite this recognition, the community continues to face discrimination.
Kerala Health Minister Veena George spoke on the phone with a transgender woman and ordered the hospital to provide free treatment to the man and newborn. The hospital was instructed to give the baby breast milk from its breast milk bank.
Kerala Education Minister R. Bindu congratulated parents on Twitter: “May the birth of a child whose very existence revolutionizes society’s rigid notions of gender identity open the door to a new, more inclusive world.”