A transgender man has shared incredible pregnancy photos after giving birth to a healthy baby – four years after beginning the transition from female to male.
Kaci Sullivan, 30, underwent a C-section following seven days in labor and welcomed Phoenix into the world on November 11.
The business student had been trying for a tot with boyfriend Steven, 27, and conceived last February after taking a break from male hormones for health reasons.
He already had one child, five-year-old Grayson, with his ex-husband, who he gave birth to while living as a woman before coming out as transgender.
Despite facing abuse online and being stared at while in public with a bump, brave Kaci decided to speak to DailyMailTV to break the stigma around trans parenthood.
And the proud dad, from Wisconsin, revealed that he and Steven will raise the child as gender neutral until they are old enough to decide for themselves.
First pregnancy as a man: Kaci Sullivan gave birth to his baby Phoenix via C-section on November 11, four years after the 30-year-old transitioned to a man
The father-of-two says he and his boyfriend Steven (top left) will raise the child as gender neutral until they are old enough to decide for themselves. Kaci is father to another child, Grayson (left) five, who he conceived with his ex-husband before Kaci came out as transgender
Kaci is choosing to break the stigma around trans parenthood and says he does not engage or respond to those who are ‘perturbed’ by the idea of him giving birth
‘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,’ Kaci told DailyMailTV.
‘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.’
He added: ‘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, was born biologically female.
Above is the ultrasound scan of Kaci’s baby. He said the connection he felt to his child during his pregnancy as a trans man was an ‘incredible privilege’ and was a happier experience than his first pregnancy since he says he could not ‘connect with womanhood’
Kaci says he underwent 26 weeks of morning sickness and went through seven days of labor but described the birth as ‘such a beautiful moment’
Kaci says he hoped becoming a mother would help him feel more feminine during his first pregnancy, but says it felt ‘hopeless.’ He came out transgender when his first child was three months old
But he always struggled with his identity, a problem that was made worse as he suffered abuse which began when he was just four.
Kaci said: ‘I was always an anxious kid who felt intuitively disconnected from myself and in my dreams I was always a boy.
‘I daydreamed almost constantly about what it would be like to be a boy, puberty was traumatizing for me, and I cried the first time I had to put on a bra.’
Kaci met his first husband at 19 and tied the knot in 2010, but by his early 20s was battling severe depression and began to drink excessively.
When Kaci became pregnant with his first child in July 2011, he hoped becoming a mother would make him feel more feminine – but was left in a dark place when it didn’t.
He said: ‘Throughout the experience, I prayed to connect with womanhood, to identify with what was happening to my body, but I couldn’t.
‘I felt so hopeless and lost. I wanted to die. I fell into such a dark place and I was terrified to bring a baby into that darkness with me.
‘But the moment they put him in my arms it was bliss. Immediately I loved him like I had never loved anything or anyone and I felt such a surge of duty to him.
‘I couldn’t be this depressed and be a good parent to him. If I didn’t come out and transition, I knew I would eventually succumb to dysphoria, depression and suicide.
‘So, when the baby was three months old, I told my husband I was transgender.
‘I felt like a ton of bricks had been lifted off my chest when I admitted it to myself.’
Kaci met current partner Steven, (left) who works in production, in 2014 through online dating and they ‘hit it off straight away’
He admits he became nervous going out in public as his bump grew bigger because people would stare. Kaci (pictured left as a woman) said he knew he was a man since he was a young child. He underwent a double mastectomy in 2013
Kaci’s revelation led to his marriage breaking down and many of his 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’.
A false pregnancy scare led to the couple deciding to try for a baby in 2016 after Kaci stopped taking male hormones for health reasons.
Six months later Kaci conceived naturally and went on to enjoy a healthy pregnancy – despite suffering with morning sickness for 26 weeks.
He documented the journey with photos and a series of Facebook posts and a YouTube channel, My Trans Pregnancy, to create a resource for other transgender parents.
Kaci said: ‘As my bump grew bigger and bigger I got nervous going out in public because people would stare. They noticed my abnormal shape.
‘There was a lot of anxiety but the most important thing for me was sending the message that pregnancy is not a gendered thing.’
Kaci gave birth to a healthy tot weighing 8lbs 9oz at 2.05pm on November 11, who he is now feeding with breast milk provided by donors.
He refuses to answer the question: ‘Is it a boy or a girl?’ because he says it’s irrelevant.
‘I wish people realized that they’re not asking me about the baby’s gender identity,’ Kaci said.
‘There is no way anyone could know that. They’re asking me what my baby’s genitals look like. This is a creepy question when we break it down.
‘We don’t need to be sexualizing little children. Nobody but your child should be revealing their gender.’
He and Steven will raise their baby as gender neutral, with non-gendered clothes and a wide variety of toys, so they can ‘express themselves in the way that feels right’.
Kaci added: ‘Our sex and gender identity have nothing to do with socially constructed gender roles. These are three entirely separate concepts.
‘The architecture of your brain does not change depending on what color you are dressed in as a baby.’