US: Transgender man, 22, gives birth to TWINS

DAILY Mail — A 22-year old transgender man has given birth to twins after going through six rounds of artificial insemination in a bid to get pregnant.

Aaden Darr, a Starbucks barista from Charleston, West Virginia, was born biologically female but came out as transgender at 16 years old after identifying as a lesbian for several years and started a course of testosterone.

However, he soon came to realize that it was his dream to have a biological child – so he put a stop to his hormonal treatment and visited his local family planning clinic in order to begin the process of having a baby.

After five grueling months and six rounds of intrauterine insemination (IUI) – using donor sperm – Aaden finally fell pregnant with twins in August 2020.

But while Aaden was lucky enough to have a completely healthy pregnancy, he admits that he was ‘scared to go outside’ during that time because he was so self-conscious about his changing body – having started to grow breasts again as a result of coming off his hormones.

In April 2021, Aaden safely delivered twin girls, Quinn and Carter, who he is now raising with his girlfriend, Claire Behrens, 21, a barista, whom he met in May 2022.

Now, the father of two is speaking out about his experience in an attempt to help ‘break gender norms’.

‘When I realized I wanted a child I thought how I had been brave my entire life and done things people said I couldn’t,’ he explained.

‘So why not break the gender norms even more if this is something I want to do?

‘When I decided I wanted a biological child I immediately stopped testosterone and called the family planning clinic.

‘I had a sperm donor and began the process of IUI. It was hard for me to conceive as they found out I had polycystic ovaries.’

After five failed IUIs, Aaden was given the devastating news by doctors that his sixth round would be his last one.

‘After my fifth failed round of IUI, they told me if the next one was unsuccessful they wouldn’t be able to do another,’ he recalled.

‘So when they told me it had worked finally on the sixth round it was surreal. The whole office was so supportive.’

While Aaden said he never experienced outright abuse in person while pregnant, he says he was ‘scared to go out in public’ as he was extremely self-conscious.

He found the process of growing breasts again and growing pregnant ‘very conflicting on a personal level’ but says he would ‘do it all again’.

Aaden added: ‘My parents were very supportive when I said I wanted to have a baby. My mom was over the moon.

‘My friends were supportive and my employer Starbucks were very supportive.

‘I was sometimes still scared to go out in public pregnant though. No one was ever mean to me it was more of a self-conscious thing.

‘I had made a TikTok video about my journey conceiving and it went viral.

‘People said vile things like, “If you want to be a man so badly why do you want to have a family?”

‘People always say “your poor kids” which I find ridiculous because my kids have a great life. There’s lots of ignorant people like that.

‘A lot of trans men have unexpected pregnancies but for me it wasn’t so I didn’t have that element of surprise or shock.

But it was still very hard for me mentally.

‘Growing two babies inside of me I felt everything twice as much. I had boobs at the time and to watch them grow and develop as a trans man was very conflicting on a personal level.

‘I struggled a lot but I would do it again.’

Aaden gave birth via C section in April 2021 and said that the feeling of holding his twins for the first time was ‘indescribable’.

He said: ‘Holding them for the first time was absolutely amazing. It was an indescribable gift.

‘Sometimes I question myself about whether I can provide the feminine side to their childhood.

‘But overall, the hardest part of being a trans parent is what other people think about me.

‘I’d actually say being a trans parent is positive in a lot of ways. I’m more open to certain ideas.

‘I don’t believe toys and clothes are gendered so if they want a monster truck they can have a monster truck.

‘I have a different perspective which makes me a better parent no matter what people say or think.

‘I would do it all over again.’

Aaden came out as a trans man in 2016 as a sophomore in high school.

After being badly bullied by his peers he decided to continue his education from home.

He was unable to get hormonal treatment until he was 18.

When he turned 18 began taking testosterone after going through extensive counselling.

‘I didn’t even know being trans was a thing. Living in a small state like West Virginia there’s not really much of an LGBTQ+ community,’ he said.

‘I didn’t know being trans existed until one of my friends came out to me.

‘In 2016 I came out as trans. I got bulled badly and ended up not going to public school.

‘My parents weren’t supportive of my transition at first. When I turned 18 I went through extensive counselling and then eventually started testosterone.

‘I was on hormonal treatment for two years but immediately stopped when I decided I wanted a child.’