Wyley Simpson walked through the streets of San Antonio with his belly exposed, and people didn’t know what to make of it.
He was 28 years old and had already been transitioning from woman to man for some time when, in February, he found out that he was expecting a baby with his fiancé, Stephan Gaeth. It wasn’t part of the plan. They considered adoption, but decided to keep the surprise and turn it into a family. What came next wasn’t easy: strangers shouted at him that “men don’t carry babies”, while others simply called him “that”. Inside, he was carrying something just as heavy — he had paused his transition, and part of him felt conflicted about that body which, for the first time in years, was becoming feminine again.
On September 5, 2018, Rowan was born by C-section, weighing 3,3 kilos. Simpson says that as soon as he held the baby in his arms, he understood that every insult had been worth it. He doesn’t plan to do it again — he wants to complete his transition — but says that feeling his son’s kicks and watching him grow in the ultrasounds was one of the most natural and beautiful things he had ever experienced.
