When Wyley Simpson and Stephan Gaeth first met online, they felt an immediate connection. Bonding over their mutual love for of nature, interests in sustainable living and dreams of living “tiny,” the couple from San Antonio soon grew very close.
But Simpson says they immediately grew much closer when they found out Simpson – a transgender man – was pregnant. Simpson says he considered all his options, including keeping the baby, giving it up for adoption and getting an abortion. Keeping the baby would mean Simpson would have to stop the hormone therapy he’d been on for six years.
“I was just like, How am I going to do this when, for so long, I’ve tried to get away from being anything close to being feminine or anything to do with being female,” Simpson says. “But it was just very scary for me because I was just like, This is not who I am; I never planned to get pregnant.”
Nevertheless, once they learned Simpson was 11 weeks pregnant at his first doctor’s appointment, they made a decision.
“So, kind of at that point, I was like, Oh my God, it’s got a heart and its got legs and arms, you know?” Simpson says.
Gaeth says their main concern was whether they would have enough space for the child once it arrived, since they live in a converted bus. But, he says after watching an archive of YouTube videos about much larger families who live in smaller spaces, they knew everything was going to work out.
“We were like, Yeah, babies just kind of want to be close to you and want to be loved and want that attention, so we can do that, we have that,” Gaeth says.
Simpson says the rest of the journey was more of a mental and emotional struggle for him as he struggled with the thought of it feminizing him. However, he says he realized it wouldn’t make him any less of a man or any less of a father.
“I mean, I don’t see myself as any less of a man, and it was just an amazing experience,” Simpson says. “I’m glad I actually got to go through the experience that women go through – it’s just amazing.”
Written by Acacia Coronado.