When a couple is ready to become parents, they will do almost anything to make that happen. The desire to produce children who carry the parent’s DNA is strong. The Bowsers are a couple who wanted to have children and were able to produce two healthy sons that are biologically their own. The thing that makes this happy story a little different is that both parents happen to be transgender.
Bianca and Nick Bowser were featured on 20/20. Their story is, in many ways, similar to thousands of other couples. They met. They fell in love. They eventually decided that they wanted to have children together.
It seems to me that they met at just the right time. Both Bianca and Nick had begun the process of transitioning before they met each other. However, neither one had finished the process. Ultimately, this enabled them to be able to produce children that are biologically and genetically their own.
Bianca Bowser, now 32, grew up in Georgia. ABC News says she “grew up as a boy named Jason”. When she was 20 years old, she started living her life as a woman. This included applying makeup and wearing women’s clothing. In other words, the same things that many women do every day.
She was intending on having gender reassignment surgery, but had not done so before she met Nick. Bianca was taking hormones at that time.
Nick Bowser, now 27, also grew up in Georgia. ABC news says he “was born as a girl named Nicole”. He says that he always wanted to be a boy. Nick was taking hormones at the time he met Bianca. He was also considering gender reassignment surgery.
The couple got married in 2010. Later, like many other couples, they decided that they wanted to have children together. Also like many couples, they decided that they wanted to try and conceive naturally. The Bowser’s were able to do this because each still had their original sex organs. In other words, the “body parts” that are involved in producing a pregnancy were present.
Many couples, who desperately want to conceive naturally, are unable to do it. Some turn to IVF in the hopes that this will help them to conceive (even though the procedure is expensive and does not always result in pregnancy). That’s how strong the drive to have children that contain the parent’s DNA is for some couples.
The Bowser’s now have two sons. Kai is 3-years-old and Pax is 17 months old (as of the time when the 20/20 episode was released). Nick carried the babies, each of whom was born via c-section. The Bowser’s sons see them as “Mommy and Daddy”. The couple intends to explain to their children how they were born (when the children are older).
Image by AJ Cann on Flickr.
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* Let’s Talk About the Cultures of Childbearing
* Transgender Girl Denied Access to Female Bathroom