A transgender man has given birth to his second child four years after transitioning – following a seven day labor.
Kaci Sullivan is believed to be the first person in the world to give birth while living as both a woman and a man.
Five years ago Kaci gave birth to a son, Grayson, while still married to the child’s dad and presenting as female.
This time Kaci underwent a C-section following a seven-day labor and welcomed Phoenix into the world.
The business student conceived with partner Steven, 27, last February after taking a break from taking male hormones.
Kaci and Steven are choosing not to reveal the 8lbs 9oz baby’s sex, and plan to raise their child as “gender-neutral.”
In June we reported that Kaci was four months pregnant with Phoenix and how his first pregnancy had been an incredible struggle.
Kaci, from Wisconsin, US, said: “The moment the baby came out and I got to hear them cry was indescribable. It’s incredible to think that I had made this little human.
“After 26 weeks of morning sickness and seven days in labor, it was such a beautiful moment.
“We are just so happy and grateful, and enjoying spending time together as a family. The baby is delightful, loving and sweet.
“The connection I’ve felt to them throughout my pregnancy has been an incredible privilege, and the last nine months have brought my partner and I so close together.”
“Some people have been perturbed by the idea of me giving birth, but I don’t engage or respond to them. If I see those comments I just get rid of them.
“They will try and find our safe space and violate it with their opinions, but they are jerks. I don’t waste my time or energy by giving them anything in return.
“Because I don’t see pregnancy as inherently feminine, and because I don’t subscribe to make-believe gender roles, I wasn’t threatened by the idea of pregnancy.
“It didn’t make me feel any less masculine.”
Kaci, who runs the TransLiberation Art Coalition, promoting activism in art, always struggled with identity.
He met his first husband at 19 and tied the knot in 2010, but by his early twenties was battling severe depression and began to drink excessively.
Three months after Grayson was born, Kaci came out as transgender and says he “felt like a tonne of bricks” had been lifted.
The revelation led to the marriage breaking down and many friends cutting contact, and he was forced to leave his admin job, but he says he felt “totally liberated.”
In 2013, at the age of 25, he began transitioning by taking male hormone testosterone and undergoing a double mastectomy.
Then in May 2014, Kaci met current partner Steven, who works in production, through online dating and they “hit it off straight away.”