In 2017, Trystan Reese, a 34-year-old transgender man from Portland, Oregon, had his first biological child with his partner, 31-year-old Biff Chaplow. They were already raising Riley and Hailey, then 9 and 7, Chaplow’s nieces and nephews, whom they adopted in 2011 after an exhausting legal battle. When they decided to expand their family again, they chose a different path: Reese stopped his testosterone treatment so that his cycle could return and they could conceive together.
The first attempt ended in a miscarriage at six weeks, a loss that Reese describes as painful but one that changed how he experienced this second pregnancy. Now he says he is trying to stay in the present, enjoying each week without getting ahead of tomorrow.
In Portland, they say, the community has welcomed them with open arms, and they hope their story will show other young LGBT people that starting a family is always possible, no matter which path they choose to get there.
