The birth of a child should be remembered as a beautiful milestone—not a series of painful reminders that the world doesn’t see you for who you are. For Kaspar-Williams, a non-binary transgender father, the delivery of his son came with an unexpected struggle: convincing medical staff to stop calling him “mom.”
Despite identifying as male (using he/him and they/them pronouns) and having undergone top surgery years prior, nurses repeatedly referred to Kaspar-Williams as “mother” during his 2020 C-section. “I’d corrected them multiple times,” he told reporters. “My paperwork said ‘male.’ My husband was right there. Yet they kept defaulting to terms that didn’t reflect my identity.”
The experience highlights a persistent gap in healthcare understanding. While Kaspar-Williams celebrates his unique parenting journey—having carried his son after coming out as transgender—he emphasizes that gender and childbirth need not be linked. “Not all women bear children, and not all birth parents are women,” he stressed. “Until we separate motherhood from womanhood, families like ours will keep facing these unnecessary hurdles.”
His story serves as both a cautionary tale and a call to action for more inclusive medical practices nationwide.
