Australian academic says it can be ‘masculine’ to be pregnant as it is revealed 22 transgender men in the country gave birth last year
- Dr Lauren Rosewarne made the comments in a debate about the statistics
- 228 transgender men experienced pregnancy in decade to June 2019 alone
- New phenomenon with no records of trans men giving birth – 1993 to mid 2009
An Australian academic has said it can be ‘masculine’ to be pregnant as it was revealed 22 transgender men in the country gave birth last year.
Dr Lauren Rosewarne, a senior lecturer in social and political sciences at the University of Melbourne, made the comments in a debate about the figures, which were released by a government agency.
Rejecting a broadcaster’s claim that ‘having a baby challenges your very masculinity’, she replied: ‘Masculinity means different things to different people. I’m sure your masculinity is different to any other man in your office.’
A new BBC documentary Seahorse screens at the 2019 Melbourne International Film Festival. It profiles a 30-year-old British transgender man Freddy (pictured) as he prepares to give birth to a son
The Australian’s government’s Medicare department revealed 22 transgender men gave birth during the past financial year.
This made them among the 228 who had been pregnant during the past decade.
There were no recorded transgender men giving birth in the 16 years to June 2009, with only one case classified as ‘unknown’ in that time.
Responding to the figures, Dr Rosewarne also insisted someone who was biologically a woman could be male even without having had sex change surgery.
‘They may not have necessarily had an operation, but they now identify as male,’ she said.
‘For them, they consider their entire identity wrapped up in the identity of a male, therefore they refer as males.’
The academic also suggested society needed to adjust its idea of gender.
‘It is something culturally we have to think more about and it’s jarring for some people,’ Dr Rosewarne said.
‘Jarring is not a bad thing, we all have to adjust our way of thinking.’
‘It’s not just about what bits you have.’
In the ocean world, the male seahorse carries the eggs from the female in its pouch and then gives birth.
The data was released as new BBC documentary Seahorse screens at the 2019 Melbourne International Film Festival.
It profiles a 30-year-old British transgender man Freddy as he prepares to give birth to a son.
Dr Lauren Rosewarne, a senior lecturer in social and political sciences at the University of Melbourne, rejected Melbourne 3AW broadcaster Neil Mitchell’s suggestion that ‘having a baby challenges your very masculinity’