A transgender couple's pregnancy is
believed to be the first of its kind in South America.
Fernando Machado and Diane Rodriguez
announced their pregnancy on social media.
Machado, who was born in Venezuela, is
carrying the baby. Now 22, he started taking hormones at 19.
Rodriguez, 33, is a leading LGBT
activist in Ecuador.
Rodriguez, who was born Luis, told CNN
that she always identified as female, but embracing her identity was
difficult for her family. She said that she was homeless for a short
time after she announced that she identified as female.
“What people need to understand is
that our love is bearing fruit in the form of a child,” she told
Fusion.
“We have wanted this effusively and now it's a reality.”
Neither has undergone gender
reassignment surgery.
In the United States, Thomas Beatie
made headlines in 2008 with the announcement that he was pregnant.
Two more children followed.
(Related: Oprah
Winfrey catches up with Thomas Beatie, AKA pregnant man.)