Transgender man stops testosterone to get pregnant with a sperm donor after his partner discovered she couldn’t have children

• Trans man Caleb Bolden, from Chatteris, stopped testosterone & got pregnant
• Read More: Trans man who gave birth says he is being shut-out by LGBTQ

A trans man stopped taking testosterone and had a baby after his partner discovered she was unable to have children.

Caleb Bolden, 27, from Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, started transitioning six years ago – at the same time as he began trying to have a child via sperm donor with partner Niamh Bolden, 25.

She suffered three miscarriages and a stillbirth of twins at 23 weeks and 27 weeks before being told she’d likely never have kids.

Rather than pay an estimated £70,000 for her to have private fertility treatment, Caleb stopped his daily testosterone injections and used a sperm donor.

Six months later he got pregnant using a sperm donor he found on social media, and Isla-Rae Bolden was born in May.

Transgender man Caleb Bolden, 27, (left) from Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, stopped taking testosterone and had a baby after his partner discovered she was unable to have children

Despite enduring nasty comments from strangers and suffering gender dysphoria while pregnant, Caleb loves being a dad – and will do it again.

Store manager Caleb said: ‘Coming off testosterone was a rocky road as I had so many hormones going around my body.

‘It was soul destroying. Transitioning was something I knew I wanted to do from a young age.

‘But I knew for myself and my partner it was something we had always wanted and I wanted to give it a shot.

‘When it’s age appropriate, I will tell her the things that are relevant. I want other trans people to know it’s OK to carry a child.

‘We’re no different to any other person, just because we were born a biologically different sex, it doesn’t mean we should have to worry or lock ourselves away.’

Store manager Caleb started transitioning in 2017.

Niamh, also a store manager, found out she was unable to conceive naturally in 2022 after miscarriages and a stillbirth in 2019.

Caleb  (right) started transitioning six years ago – at the same time as he began trying to have a child via sperm donor with partner Niamh Bolden, 25 (left) 

Rather than pay an estimated £70k for Niamh to have private fertility treatment, Caleb stopped his daily testosterone injections and used a sperm donor. Six months later he got pregnant

Midwives and a consultant formulated a specialist care plan to make sure Caleb was able to maintain his privacy throughout the experience

He was even induced and gave birth in a separate room, rather than on a ward. He gave birth naturally in May 2023 at West Suffolk hospital (pictured Caleb, Niamh and Isla-Rae with the midwife)

She said she was told the eggs she produces are immature, so incapable of being fertilised.

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines say NHS-funded IVF is only available to women ‘who have not conceived after two years of regular unprotected intercourse or 12 cycles of artificial insemination (where six or more are by intrauterine insemination)’.

This means women in same-sex relationships, or couples where one person is trans, must ‘prove’ they cannot conceive by undergoing artificial insemination (AI), campaigners have argued.

Niamh and Caleb say this means she would be forced to undergo 12 consecutive rounds of AI – which could cost as much as £80,000 – before qualifying for NHS help.

So Caleb decided to try, and stopped taking testosterone in January 2022 – 27 months after he first started. 

After meeting a sperm donor via social media and building a good relationship, Caleb went ahead with IUI fertility treatment and he discovered he was pregnant in August 2022.

‘I’d been on testosterone for 27 months and was told there was a good chance I couldn’t fall pregnant, and my period probably wouldn’t come back,’ he said.

‘But within a month of stopping my menstrual cycle returned and within six months and three attempts using a sperm donor, I fell pregnant.

After meeting a sperm donor via social media and building a good relationship, Caleb went ahead with IUI fertility treatment and he discovered he was pregnant in August 2022

Caleb says he received plenty of support from healthcare staff and was offered separate rooms for scans so women didn’t see him

‘From quite early in the pregnancy we got very good support from West Suffolk hospital.’

He said most friends and colleagues were supportive – but that some people suggested ‘men can’t get pregnant’.

He says he received comments in the street from strangers pointing out that he was a man who was pregnant.

And he says his coworkers weren’t aware of him being trans until he revealed he was pregnant – but that they were supportive of his journey.

Caleb says he received plenty of support from healthcare staff and was offered separate rooms for scans so women didn’t see him.

Midwives and a consultant formulated a specialist care plan to make sure Caleb was able to maintain his privacy throughout the experience.

He was even induced and gave birth in a separate room, rather than on a ward.

He gave birth naturally in May 2023 at West Suffolk hospital.

‘To begin with it was hard as I suffered with complications – for the first four weeks after leaving hospital I was bedbound so wasn’t able to have that bond with my daughter.

‘During labour her heartrate was dropping rapidly and I underwent an episiotomy.

‘But after leaving hospital I was in agony – it was because there was a breakdown in the episiotomy.

After meeting a sperm donor via social media and building a good relationship, Caleb went ahead with IUI fertility treatment and he discovered he was pregnant in August 2022

He said most friends and colleagues were supportive – but that some people suggested ‘men can’t get pregnant’

 Healthy baby Isla-Rae Bolden was born in May at West Suffolk hospital

‘The stitching broke down and I had constant infections for five weeks, I couldn’t move.

‘At the beginning for two weeks after giving birth I did breastfeed but I found that quite difficult.

‘I know she’s my daughter and I gave birth to her, but for me it felt really odd and I didn’t feel like that father figure to her.

‘I’ve recovered now so am able to do a lot more and my partner has been a great support.’

He is still pausing his testosterone treatment because he plans to get pregnant again later this year, using the same donor.

He added: ‘I want to be able to carry a child one more time before I start taking testosterone again.

‘I’m planning on doing that later this year and will be using the same sperm donor again.’

Source: Read Full Article