Reuben and Jay have welcomed a new baby (Picture: GoFundMe)

A transgender man has given birth to a baby he will raise with his non-binary partner, with the help of a female sperm donor.

Reuben Sharpe, 39, transitioned to male 12 years ago but decided he still wanted to become a parent.

Six years ago he stopped taking hormones in the hope of the dream coming true, and now it has been realised with baby Jamie, who was born three months ago.

Reuben told the Daily Mirror: ‘I finally feel complete.


‘It wasn’t that I was desperate to have the birthing experience or pregnancy experience, but I wanted a child and I had the facility to do it.’



His partner Jay, a wedding photographer, who uses the pronoun them, was also open to having children.

Reuben Sharpe and partner Jay (Picture: GoFundMe/bunintheoven2018)

Jay, who has had a double breast removal, told the paper: ‘It just seemed right – we wanted to raise kids similarly.’

The couple raised money on GoFundMe to put towards their fertility treatment.

Reuben wrote before their happy news: ‘We are both trans/non-binary trans and don’t have a drop of sperm between us! However, we have found a donor from within the Brighton trans community who has amazingly and kindly offered to help with this.

‘I have always wanted to become a parent, and initially believed that I would do this through adoption. However, I realised that due to my circumstances and the difficult nature of the adoption process this option is sadly not available to me.’

Their sperm donor was a transgender woman who they messaged on Facebook to ask about helping them out.

Reuben and Jay, from Brighton, chose to have IUI, which is when sperm is inserted into the womb by a doctor. Three rounds of treatment cost them £6,000.

Reuben Sharpe and partner Jay (Picture: GoFundMe/bunintheoven2018)

Their first round didn’t work, with Reuben saying: ‘They gave me a fertility injection and I released too many eggs. We couldn’t go through with that attempt as we could have ended up with six children!’

Eventually they were successful, and now say that although Reuben carried Jamie, partner Jay would be open to potentially doing so for another baby in the future.

Reuben told the paper: ‘I don’t think pregnancy is the ultimate female experience, therefore it didn’t challenge me as a man.

‘It doesn’t make a woman less of a woman if she’s not keen on pregnancy, infertile, doesn’t want a baby. This isn’t a trans issue – it affects everyone.’

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