Indian transman pauses transition process to get pregnant, couple to welcome the baby in March

An Indian transgender couple's pregnancy announcement has taken the internet by storm.

Zahad and Siya Paval hail from the Indian state of Kerala. They recently took to social media to share some of the pictures from their pregnancy photoshoot.

The couple was in the process of gender transition when they decided to have a baby. Zahad was transitioning to become a man, while Siya has already transitioned, from her birth-assigned gender as a man to a transwoman.

Zahad will reportedly become the first transgender father in India when the baby arrives in March this year.

Siya, his partner, says she has always wanted to be a parent and that they looked into various options. They realised that adopting a baby would be a challenge as they were a transgender couple.

And that is when they realised that Zahad could conceive even though he was in the middle of the transition process. The couple then decided to take a break and have a baby.

"I feel adipoli! (great) I can't wait to see my baby doll. It is fascinating that I can be a mother and father. While it is a lot to take emotionally, I can't wait to complete this phase as a mother and then become a father," Zahad told The Quint. He will resume his transitioning process once he has delivered the baby next month.

His partner Siya is over the moon as well and says that at the end of the day, "it is my life, and I can live it the way I want."

"We are about to realise my dream of becoming a mother and his dream of becoming a father. An eight-month-old foetus is now in (Zahad's) belly. From what we came to know, this is the first trans man's pregnancy in India," Paval said in the Instagram post. The post has garnered thousands of likes and comments.