Kate Hackett
Ash Patrick Schade was taking testosterone and estrogen blockers during his transition. He had been transitioning for two years when he realized he was pregnant after a one-night-stand with a man.
Ash stopped his hormone treatment in order to carry the child.
He had believed the testosterone and estrogen blockers that he was taking during his transition would prevent pregnancy. They did not!
A month later, the Ph.D. student met his now-husband, Jordan, and they welcomed their daughter Ronan in October of 2020. They’re now raising Ronan together. Ash has undergone top surgery to remove his breasts after the birth and has reported that he’s holding off on total gender reassignment in order to have more children.
The pregnancy was difficult because he found that medical professionals did not understand the unique situation.
Schade has said that he struggled with his gender identity for as long as he could remember, but he’s ready to start a family of his own.
“I was going through a rough time from 2019 and 2020 and struggled with my mental health due to going through a divorce. I ended up going on Grindr hook-ups and accidentally fell pregnant. It was a huge shock, but I fell in love with my bump and pushed through the pregnancy, despite struggling with the dysphoria and medical risks.” Schade said to the Daily Mail.
Despite going to conversion therapy as a child, Schade maintained that he was a boy; he hid his breasts and wore dark goth clothing to hide how he looked. One day, his mother sent him to school in a pink two-piece for picture day and his teachers said he was a girl called Ashley.
“I went from popular to a nobody overnight, with my then girlfriend’s mum calling my mum to ‘keep that gay slur of a child from my daughter’. I had a horrible childhood and am a suicide attempt survivor from gender dysphoria and trauma I went through.”
But Schade was able to break away from that and began his transition years later, in 2018.
He did worry for his mental health when he discovered he was pregnant.
Schade says that the support of his friends, the online gay and trans community, and the Santanic Temple have helped him navigate bringing Ronan into the world. He’s looking forward to telling Ronan how she was born and how trans men can have children.
“I want to be honest and open with Ronan the whole way, and explain to her that trans men can have babies,” he said.
