One transgender man revealed that he was pregnant during a transition after an unplanned one-night affair with another man.
Ash Patrick Schade, 28, from Huntington, West Virginia, had been two years into transitioning and was taking testosterone and estrogen blockers when he discovered he was pregnant in February 2020, following a ‘Grindr hook-up’.
‘It had never occurred to me that I could get pregnant whilst on testosterone and estrogen blockers, as it’s such a rare occurrence,’ Ash explained.
After finding out he was pregnant, Ash, a mental health worker and PhD student, stopped hormone treatment and the following month met his now husband Jordan, 28. Daughter Ronan was born in October 2020.
The couple are raising one-year-old Ronan together and Ash, who underwent top surgery to remove his breasts after the birth, says he is holding off on having full gender reassignment surgery so they can have more children together.
Ash Patrick Schade (28), a Huntington resident, West Virginian, was two years into his transition and had already started taking estrogen blockers and testosterone when he found out he was pregnant. He was following a “Grindr hookup” in February 2020. Ash, before transitioning (left) as well as after having his top surgery’ in October.
Ash became aware that he had been pregnant and decided to stop hormone therapy. Ronan was born in October 2020. Photographed during pregnancy
Ash and Jordan met one month after Ash found out that he was expecting. They now share the responsibility of raising their daughter Ronan.
Ash (pictured with Ronan) is putting off full gender reassignment surgery to be able to have more children.
Ash, who was previously married to another man, explained: ‘I was going through a rough time from 2019 and 2020 and struggled with my mental health due to going through a divorce.
“I accidentally became pregnant after I went on Grindr hookups.”
“It was quite a shock but it made me fall in love with my baby and I pushed on through, even though the medical and dysphoria issues kept me awake at night.
Ash stated that he felt like he wasn’t in the right body for as long as his memory can remember. His parents sent Ash to conversion therapy as a child in hopes it would “fix” him.
He recalled, “I concealed my boobs, identified myself as a boy at school, went by Ash and wore dark gothic clothes to conceal how I looked,”
“Until one day my mother, who doesn’t wish to be identified, sent me to school wearing a pink two-piece for picture day. My teacher shouted that I was Ashley.
Ronan, Ash and Ash are pictured together after Ash gave birth.
After Ronan was born Ash had top surgery (pictured) to remove his breasts.
Ash (pictured in the aftermath of top surgery) admits to strangers being confused when explaining his daughter’s parentsage
Ash (pictured with his daughter Ronan) said that he’s always felt like he was in an incorrect body.
‘I went from being popular overnight to someone nobody, with my then girlfriend’s mum calling me to “keep this gay slur child away from mine,”
“I suffered a horrible childhood, and I am now a survivor of a suicide attempt due to gender dysphoria.
In 2018, Ash started his transition.
While he was worried about his mental health, he did not discover the pregnancy. Jordan, his wife, supported him and he got married four months later to Ronan.
Ash said, “Nobody was interested in my case when it first became known that I was pregnant.” It was a very high-risk situation, which meant that there was a great chance for things to go wrong.
Ash (center) with Jordan, her husband, and Ronan, their daughter, at home in West Virginia.
“I was very unhappy with my pregnancy and the pandemic. After being assigned a doctor to me, he was able to help me feel and understand what was happening.
“When I was going into labor, my team of medical personnel had been informed about my situation. They were incredible until they were replaced with other staff later…
Although it may seem counterintuitive, giving birth was one of my most masculine experiences.
“To me, as a child, having a male role model was not about the size of my penis. It was more about how you helped others and what you were able to accomplish.
Ash and Ronan (one-year-old) are pictured together. He said that giving birth to Ronan was one of the most masculine things he’d ever done because it demonstrated his strength
Ash and Jordan have been raising Ronan for one year.
Ash indicated that he is open and honest with Ronan concerning his path to parenthood.
“Bringing life to the world with a seahorse mother was amazing.”
Ash also credited the support of his friends, the online gay and trans community and the Satanic Temple, of which he is a member.
Ronan will be able to tell him how he was born, he said.
He said, “I want to tell Ronan that trans people can sometimes have babies.”
‘I can talk to her about my role as her mom and dad. People will often stop us while we’re out to say her mom must be beautiful. Or if we’re out with Jordan, they’ll inquire where she was adopted.
“So it’s often quite an interesting conversation for me to start when they explain it to them.”
Ash, shown here, explained that he tells Ronan, who is one, that he’s both her mom and dad.