He gave birth, but says hospital staff would not recognize him as a father. For Bennett Kaspar-Williams, welcoming a son brought joy alongside the pain of being repeatedly called a mother, despite identifying as male at the time. Behind that deeply personal clash was a bigger question about childbirth, identity, and whether those providing care would offer basic resp… Continues…Bennett Kaspar-Williams and their husband, Malik, welcomed Hudson by cesarean in October 2020. Before conceiving, the Los Angeles parent paused testosterone treatment after carefully considering how to build their family. Pregnancy came sooner than expected, shortly before pandemic lockdowns brought fresh worries about safety. Kaspar-Williams, who identified as male then and now identifies as nonbinary, using he/him and they/them pronouns, said carrying their child was not what caused distress. Instead, it was being misgendered while receiving medical care.

According to their account, nurses repeatedly called them a mother despite paperwork identifying them as male. That experience prompted Kaspar-Williams to speak publicly about separating pregnancy from assumptions about gender. Their message also challenged the idea that womanhood depends on motherhood: not every woman can give birth, and not everyone who gives birth is a mother. At its heart, their story asks caregivers to recognize the person—not simply the pregnancy.