A transgender teen who was raised as a boy is now pregnant with her first-child after discovering she has female reproductive organs. Mikey Chanel, who is 18 and from Boston, Massachusetts, was identified as a girl in the womb but when she was born, she had external male genitalia and was therefore raised as a boy.
As a teen, Chanel was diagnosed with a condition known as Persistent Müllerian Duct syndrome (PMDS), in which individuals are born with external male genitalia but have internal female genitalia. This diagnosis meant that it was possible for Chanel to get pregnant despite having spent her entire life living as a male.
The young mother now identifies as a woman and says that she always felt that she was the wrong gender while being raised a boy. She said:
"It was obvious to everyone that I was different right from the start. At age five I'd be playing with my aunt's purses and putting on my mom's lipstick. I never felt like a boy. I was quite effeminate and I never really went through a whole "boy puberty" thing."
On speaking of her diagnosis just last year, at age 17, she said:
"They told me that I had a cervix, ovaries, uterus and fallopian tubes and that I could get pregnant if I wanted to. I actually thought it was a joke. I didn't even know this was possible. I was like 'Haha where are the cameras?'. Then they showed me my uterus on the screen."
"People with PMDS are susceptible to cancer and tumors and the risk is lessened if you have a hysterectomy. My male parts came back infertile but I was told that my ovaries were functioning. I was in a state of shock for a couple of weeks then I realized that I wouldn't be able to have a child unless I carried it myself, and soon. I always knew I wanted to be a parent. I used to play with baby dolls when I was little and I've always seen kids in my future, so I decided, 'It's now or never I have to try and get pregnant.'"
To become pregnant, sperm was injected inside one of Chanel's eggs, then the fertilised embryo was placed inside her uterus. She is now 4 months pregnant and both she and the baby appear to be in good health.
She now hopes to raise awareness of PMDS to the general public, she says:
"Nobody really speaks about this, most people have never even heard of it. There isn't a lot of research about it and there aren't a lot of tests, often it's found accidentally, like in my case. I feel like there should be more research, I'm just trying to educate people about it. Once people understand it could break a really big stigma with gender and within LGBT communities."
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