Seahorse: The Dad Who Gave Birth – BBC2

BBC2’s Seahorse: The Dad Who Gave Birth tells the story of Freddy McConnell and his pioneering quest to carry his own baby as a transgender man

BBC2’s thought-provoking film Seahorse: The Dad Who Gave Birth follows 30-year-old Freddy McConnell (pictured above), a trans man who decided to carry his own child.

We join him on his journey and share his experience of pregnancy and childbirth.

It’s tough emotionally and physically, as Freddy has to come off the male hormone testosterone and feels his body changing in ways he despises.

‘I feel like an alien’, he says.

Yet Freddy remains determined to become a dad.

‘Your children are an extension of you,’ he says.

‘Everyone has the potential to feel that way.’

Freddy McConnell Seahorse: The Dad Who Gave Birth

Freddy McConnell tells his story of a man who had a baby in BBC2’s Seahorse: The Dad Who Gave Birth

Here, he talks to TV Times about his boundary-breaking journey…

Seahorse: The Dad Who Gave Birth follows your story, from preparing to conceive through to birth.

Why did you decide to make the film?

I only found out I could start a family that way by chance.

I came across the information online.

All the official guidance or advice had either not mentioned it or given the impression it wasn’t an option.

So I felt strongly that I didn’t want other people not to know about it.

Everyone should have the option.

What was the hardest thing about being pregnant as a man?

If I could have gone through pregnancy and not felt invisible and isolated, the pregnancy itself wouldn’t have been that hard.

It was my sense of identity.

Nothing felt like it included me, even things like pregnancy yoga.

It’s the daily reminders that you don’t fit in.   

What was the best thing about the experience?

I’ll never forget how amazing so many of the NHS staff were.

My midwife was absolutely wonderful and everyone was so compassionate and understanding.

It doesn’t take a huge amount of effort, work or money to have empathy.

TV Times rating: *****