Where's the Mother? Stories from a Transgender Dad
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- 8,99 €
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- 8,99 €
Publisher Description
In a time when to most people “pregnancy” automatically means “motherhood,” what is it like to get pregnant, give birth, and breastfeed a child all while being an out transgender man?
When Trevor MacDonald decided to start a family, he knew that the world was going to have questions for him. As a transgender man in a gay relationship, Trevor has gone through the journeys of pregnancy, childbirth, and nursing all while exploring (and sometimes defending) his role as a trans dad. Trevor and his partner tackle all the questions new parents are familiar with, such as: Should we feed our baby breast milk or formula? Should we have a hospital or home birth?
Other questions are much less familiar: How can a man cope with gender dysphoria when going through such female-coded rituals as childbirth and breastfeeding? How can a person breastfeed after having had chest masculinization surgery? How do we find donor milk to supplement our own modest milk supply?
Luckily for the reader, Trevor explains his own answers to these questions with grace and humour. His stories convey the intimate and sometimes surprising realities of the transgender parenting experience. This memoir is a book about being a breastfeeding parent and a transgender man, and the many beautiful, moving, and difficult ways these two identities collide. It shows us that, ultimately, the parenting journey is beyond all our assumptions and preconceptions. “Where’s the Mother?” is a memoir about love and family like no other.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
MacDonald's debut memoir tells a tale noticeably absent from the plethora of parenting and breastfeeding books available: that of a transgender man in a gay marriage to a cisgender man who was himself adopted, both desperately trying to feed their biological child nothing but human milk. MacDonald's story is in some ways a best-case scenario: his husband is a considerate, unquestioningly accepting lover; his job is never in danger; he is able to afford top surgery, to which he responds well physically and mentally; and his access to Facebook allows him a wealth of opportunities to obtain donor milk from generous sources. Only in the book's final third does the author encounter circumstances that could be considered truly dangerous and challenge his privilege. But MacDonald owns his identity, using his elevated platform to call attention to issues faced by transwomen and transmen, people of color, and those living in poverty. Most importantly, his story of transitioning is frank, clever, and easy to process, providing plenty of parallels to his later struggles with nursing for curious cis readers. Despite a puzzlingly tone-deaf foreword from Fiona Giles (Fresh Milk), MacDonald's book serves as a refreshing and insightful narrative. (BookLife)
