Frankie had always known that he wanted to be a father.
He was born female, but became a man: double mastectomy, testosterone therapy, a beard, and hair on his abdomen. His body finally matched how he had felt all his life, and the dysphoria was behind him. His desire to have children, on the other hand, never went away. “I’ve made peace with myself, and now I can reconcile these two things”, he says.
Together with his partner Rāwā, he decided to take the next step. It took them several years to conceive. There were losses along the way, as well as judgmental looks from people who knew nothing about them. Frankie had to carry a child in his womb without ceasing to feel like a man; Rāwā had to protect the person he loved throughout the process.
Today, they are Dad and Pāpā to Hiwa, and have built a close, loving family. Their story was captured in the New Zealand documentary “Trans & Pregnant”, which was shown at FIFO 2025.