Kochi: A baby boy was born to a transman and his wife in what a private hospital here claims to be the first such incident in the country.

The transman, a Kozhikode native, and his wife gave birth to the baby at Renai Medicity Hospital in December 2023, the hospital said in a statement on Thursday. The couple gave birth to the baby through fertility preservation treatment at the hospital.

The transman, who was born a female, had undergone a sex change surgery in 2021 and later got married to his girlfriend. The couple had approached the hospital in 2021 for fertility preservation ahead of the sex reassignment surgery. The egg of the Kozhikode native was extracted and developed into an embryo using donor sperm. The frozen embryo was transferred into the woman's uterus. The woman gave birth to a baby boy weighing 2.8 kg.

"It's the first such reported case in the country of a transman becoming a biological father after undergoing sex reassignment surgery. The couple were very clear about what they wanted to do. This is a commonly adopted family-building method by transpeople in other countries," Dr Jisha Varghese, fertility specialist, Renai Medicity Centre for Reproductive Health, told Onmanorama.

Renai Medicity managing director Krishnadas Polakulath said the medical instance is an achievement that gives hope and a sense of direction to transgender people who wish to have biological children.