A Transgender Dad Who Breastfeeds His Son After Giving Birth to Him Responds to Critics

A transgender father, who has given birth to his baby boy, courageously stands up for his parenting choices. His breastfeeding video faced backlash from online critics who claimed that carrying and nursing his child could potentially harm the baby’s health in the future due to excess testosterone.

He was shocked to learn he was three months pregnant.

Tanius Posey was born female, and says he felt like “something was off” from early on, but “never knew exactly what it was.” Six years ago, Tanius came to the realization that he identified as male, with the support of a transgender co-worker. Soon after, he began his journey of medical transition and finally found himself, “Once I began my transition, I felt whole.”

Posey knew having a child wasn’t an option after doctors told him he would have to freeze his eggs. Towards the end of 2021, he visited the hospital due to feeling unwell, only to discover that he was three months pregnant. The 31-year-old says he “certainly did not see his pregnancy coming at all,” and explained that he had to stop taking testosterone abruptly, which was hell.

Posey says he initially didn’t want to breastfeed his son.

The man was concerned about the potential reactions he would receive for breastfeeding his child in public. “I was worried about what society had to say about me feeding and the reason why I began sharing my chest feeding journey because you don’t see any trans men out there nursing or whatever, and there’s a lot that wants to,” Tanius explains.

Eventually, Posey became a full-time content creator and began sharing his unique journey on TikTok. Recognizing the absence of trans people of color documenting their pregnancy experiences on the platform, he aimed to be the first to “normalize” it by sharing his own story.

Tanius said the backlash he’s received has affected him.

Posey revealed that he received mixed reactions upon sharing videos of himself breastfeeding his 1-year-old son. Tanius has amassed a dedicated following of around 1 million people, users lovingly dubbed him a “seahorse dad,” drawing a connection to the remarkable nature of male seahorses carrying their offspring. But he also received many negative comments like, “You do not belong on this planet carrying a child,” and, “Go ahead and go back to where you came from.”

Tanius admits that he’s even received a lot of backlash from people who are part of the trans community, telling him things like, “You are not trans enough because you carried your baby,” or, “You’re making the rest of us look bad.” But the hate has not brought him down. He adds, “I got a lot of backlash, it got the best of me real bad at first. But I’m like, maybe if I continue sharing I might be able to help the next individual.”

Posey responds to those who criticized him for his parenting choices.

During a recent interview, he addressed the criticism, while inspiring other seahorse dads to “utilize what they’ve got” without experiencing a hint of shame. Tanius says, “I’ve got the parts to be able to breastfeed. Just because I transitioned does not mean I stripped myself from wanting to give my child nutrients. I’ve got it, why not utilize what I’ve got? My child has to eat. I can’t sit there and starve him. He’s gotta eat and he doesn’t take a bottle, so I’ve got to feed him.”

Posey wants to end the negative stigma around transgender individuals raising their children, “We gotta stop living under a rock — we’ve gotta open up our eyes and realize there’s more than one way to live.” He added, “We’ve got the parts. It doesn’t make us any less of a man. We are still a man, regardless of how society feels about us. Utilize the parts you got.”

Recently TikTok couple was forced to defend themselves too. A husband has been cruelly trolled on TikTok for being too ugly for his hot wife.