A transgender couple from Kerala, whose pregnancy pictures had gone viral recently, announced the birth of their baby on Wednesday evening.
The baby was born by around 9.30 am through a caesarean section at the Government Medical College Hospital," Ziya Paval, one of the trans-partners, told PTI.
Paval, 21, told BBC that she always wanted to be a parent. She was born male and now identifies as female. Meanwhile, her partner Zahad, 23, was registered as female at birth and now identifies as male. They were both were in the process of gender transition when they decided to have a baby, and on Wednesday Zahad gave birth to their baby, without revealing the gender.
The couple had first considered adopting a baby but there were many legal hurdles, Onmanorama reported. Then, they decided to conceive. Doctors had removed Zahad's breasts but not the reproductive organs so it became possible for the couple to conceive.
The couple said that their experience may be rare in the country because "no one else has called themselves a biological parent in the transgender community as far as we know".
Paval and Zahad told the BBC that they met three years ago and that they were estranged from their families.
"I am from a conservative Muslim family which never allowed me to learn classical dance," Paval told the publication. "(My parents) were orthodox to the point that they used to cut my hair so that I did not dance."
She said she left home to participate in a youth festival and never returned. Paval learnt to dance at a transgender community centre and is now a dance teacher in Kozhikode district.
Zahad, who is trained as an accountant, is from a Christian family in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram city. He currently works at a supermarket and is a movie buff and a "big Messi fan".
The 23-year-old told the BBC that had left his family after coming out as transgender to them, but they reconciled after he became pregnant. But Paval said that her family has still not come around.
Read more: MCD polls: Transgender candidate Bobi wins from Sultanpuri
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