When Esteban stopped taking hormones, his body changed quickly.
He lost about 10 pounds, lost muscle mass, and stopped going to the gym. Danna stopped taking them too. They did it together, because they both wanted the same thing even before they met: a child. “I always dreamed of being a father, and not because I changed my gender”, he said.
Ariel was born in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, in July 2020, by cesarean section, after Esteban was induced into labor and spent nearly 24 hours in pain. Danna, who was born in Medellín into a traditionalist family, had imagined that scene since she was a child: “I want to have my home, my husband, my child”. When she saw it become reality, she summed it up this way: “God definitely exists”.
There were surprises. Esteban had had a mastectomy before they planned the pregnancy, but after the birth his chest began producing milk, which caused him mild dysphoria. Being a dad was what helped ease it most. Today, all they ask is simple: “Transgender guys shouldn’t be afraid to want a child, because that doesn’t take away our right to be dads”.
