Trans father says doctors offered him ‘multiple abortions’ during pregnancy

A trans father has revealed how doctors discriminated against him during his pregnancy and offered him abortions “a ridiculous amount of times”.

Speaking to Today, Kayden Coleman, a trans father of two, said he was discouraged from having children and was misgendered throughout his pregnancies, making pregnancy a “very tumultuous” experience.

“There was a lot of questioning about my identity, a lot of misgendering,” he said: “Being told I shouldn’t be in spaces I was seeking care from because they were considered women’s spaces. I was offered an abortion a ridiculous amount of times.”

In addition to discrimination from doctors, Coleman said he was denied access to pregnancy care like birthing classes, chestfeeding classes, and postpartum support groups because they were labeled as women’s spaces.

It comes after a recent study by the National LGBTQ Task Force found 28 per cert of trans people say they have faced harassment by medical professionals, and 50 per cent have had to teach their doctors trans competent language.

“Health care is a fundamental human right. This study clearly documents that it is regularly being denied to transgender and gender non-conforming people,” Mara Keisling, director of the National Center for Transgender Equality Executive, said in the report.

Meanwhile, Rea Carey, National LGBTQ Task Force Executive Director added:

“It is outrageous that basic health care is being denied to transgender and gender non-conforming people and that so much additional trauma is being caused by doctors instead of being resolved by doctors.”

Guidelines by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists state doctors should use inclusive language to refer to patients during the pregnancy like “parent” rather than mother, “birth giver” rather than expecting mother, and “chestfeeding” rather than breastfeeding.

Not using inclusive terms like these could cause a lot of distress to trans parents while they are pregnant, advocates say.