Andey (left) and Leaf Nunes with their son Antonio. "We're a gay male couple that got to have a child the old-fashioned way," said Andey, a transgender man. Leaf is biologically male, while Andey was born female.
(ABC News)
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"I think that what it's helping us to do is understand that the face of family is changing," Brill said. "It's been changing for a long time.
"Each time that something pushes the edge of that family, our society at first tends to think it's wrong," Brill added, "whether that was people having interracial babies, or whether that was single mothers by choice, [or] whether that was gay or lesbian families. The same is true for transgender families."
No longer living on the fringes of society, transgender families are quietly raising their children in towns and neighborhoods across the country.
Take the case of Andey and Leaf Nunes, and their son Antonio. Even in San Francisco, where the two men live, their relationship raises eyebrows and the questions of, "What is a woman? What is a man?"
"We're a gay male couple that got to have a child the old-fashioned way," said Andey, a transgender man. "I am Antonio's biological mother on his birth certificate."
How is that possible? Leaf is biologically male, while Andey was born female.
When the two of them married, Andey was still Angie. But by then, she was already struggling with the feeling that she was really a man. Angie delayed her transition in order to get pregnant.
"It was sometimes funny to me to look in the mirror and see this pregnant person," said Andey, "because I just didn't see myself that way."
About a year after Antonio was born, with Leaf's support, Angie became Andey. He began taking testosterone and had his breasts surgically removed. Antonio, now 4 years old, refers to Leaf as daddy, and Andey as his papa.
"Antonio has seen pictures of us together with him as an infant, before my medical transition, and he recognizes me," said Andey. "So, he just sees me. He doesn't see the gender."
The couple hopes its example will broaden our notions of what constitutes a family.
"I don't think there are parenting issues or family issues that are different because one of us has transitioned genders," said Leaf. "How do you feel with finances? And how do you deal with providing education for your child? Those are the central issues to keeping a family together."
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