For Bennett Kaspar-Williams, giving birth to his son in 2020 should have been joyful—but instead, he was repeatedly misgendered by hospital staff. Despite clearly identifying as male and using he/him pronouns, he was constantly called “mother,” a label that caused deep emotional distress.

Bennett began transitioning in 2014, choosing top surgery but keeping his ability to carry a child. While he was thrilled to become a parent, the experience highlighted how rigid gender norms in medicine can be—especially the assumption that only women give birth.

Since then, he’s spoken out, urging society to separate childbirth from gender identity. “Not everyone who gives birth is a woman,” he says. For him, pregnancy made sense only when he could see it as a physical process—not tied to the label of “mother.”

His story mirrors that of Freddy McConnell, another transgender man who gave birth in 2019. Freddy’s experience was more positive, thanks to a respectful hospital team. He viewed pregnancy as a practical use of his body to achieve something meaningful—parenthood.

Both stories challenge outdated assumptions and highlight a simple truth: respecting a person’s identity, especially in vulnerable moments, matters deeply.