Dani is a trans man, but he and his wife Regina both kept their biological genitalia when transitioning and now he is pregnant with their child after natural conception
Ana Pérez Bryan
Monday, 2 March 2026, 13:15 | Updated 13:59h.
Creating a home and raising their children with the values of their ancestors was part of Dani and Regina's wedding vows. What they had a hard time believing in and what doctors had ruled out for them was naturally conceiving a child, something that has now become their reality.
Dani's pregnancy is almost a scientific miracle. He is a trans man and Regina is a trans woman, but both kept their genitalia when transitioning - he at the age of 13 and she at 20.
When he was a teenager, Dani had to make a serious decision. "You will have to choose and you have to do it now: either testosterone treatment or keep the ability to gestate in the future. Of course, with the first dose you will be sterile," the endocrinologist told him.
Dani chose testosterone and continued transitioning. He underwent a top surgery, but kept his genitalia. Regina also transitioned to being the woman she had dreamt of becoming, although she decided not to get breast implants. "Why do we have to choose?" she asks, alluding to the fact that "there are as many transitions as there are 'trans' people". Everybody chooses how to do it and all the procedures to undergo.
Despite the hormones, however, 24-year-old Dani conceived. On the day in early November 2025 when he felt nauseous and started throwing up, Regina, 30, bought a pregnancy test just in case.
The pregnancy test was positive. They were going to be parents.
On the morning that he found out, Dani prepared a surprise for Regina: the coffee, the plush toy, the flowers.
"Honey, come here, I want to show you something," he told Regina when she opened her eyes. Regina thought it was about the latest mischief of one of their cats, but she knew the truth as soon as she saw Dani unable to hold back his tears.
The pregnancy test was positive. They were going to be parents. A baby completely transforms one's life, but for Dani and Regina the rollecoaster goes even faster.
Dani and Regina's life as a trans couple and their pregnancy journey so far
Regina's surname by birth is Pérez, but at night she becomes drag queen Varanski. When she is not a vedette, she works as a philologist.
She met Daniel Lodestro five years ago. He works as a nursing assistant at an elderly people's residence.
Both of them lived half-heartedly until accepting their real identity and deciding to give up what biology had given them at birth. For Dani it was a physically painful experience, with "irregular bleeding". He never thought that this could mean still being able to conceive.
In fact, Regina's mum, although happy for the couple, had a hard time understanding how it had happened. "My mother called me afterwards to ask if she had understood correctly. She thought that we gone for surrogacy or that science had advanced so much that I had suddenly become pregnant myself," she said.
They surprised their families with the news. "They are happy: our parents, our siblings, everyone. They knew how much we wanted to be parents."
Despite the joy they feel at home, where they are surrounded by the safety of a life they've made normal, the couple cannot escape the odd looks in the outside world.
"We are partners who love each other and who are going to love this baby above all else. Regina is going to be the best mother in the world."
When Dani went for his first ultrasound, a midwife told him that he was in the wrong place and that the urologist was not there. Dani quietly told her that he was in the right place, almost whispering to avoid the already confused stares from the mothers around him. Once inside, the doctor kept referring to him with female pronouns, because "that was what she was used to".
Both Dani and Regina are going through their own forms of body dysphoria. Dani has had to get used to a belly and an identity he had rejected the idea of a long time before, while Regina is struggling with the mother bond society is selling.
"It's complicated, I think about it a lot," she says when she thinks about being a mother without carrying the baby. However, the bond Dani and she share is so strong that they understand each other's needs. Dani has already promised to give Regina the "skin to skin" contact with the baby upon giving birth.
"After that, I'm going to keep them attached to me for nine months to get all that time back with my baby," she jokes. They both describe this gift of biology as "a dream come true". "We are partners who love each other and who will love this baby above all things. It is a very much sought after baby and Regina is going to be the best mother in the world," Dani says.
Like many pregnant women, Dani is sensitive about people touching his belly. "It's strange... not many people know about it yet, but when they find out it's what typically happens - they hug you and touch your belly. It's not something I find appealing," he says. Only Regina can touch his belly.
Despite the support of their families, they still get comments like: "If you were to go that far, you could have stayed the way you were."
The support the young family have received
The couple decided to keep the baby despite the possible malformation warnings. "No one who hasn't been through this knows what it's like," Regina says. The love between them is visible, almost palpable, as she gently touches her husband's leg to calm him down.
As a man, Dani knows how society views him - he cannot break down and show his vulnerabilities. With Regina by his side, however, and the promise "for better or for worse", he can have a positive pregnancy experience.
The two appreciate the love and support they have received from people with enough tact and compassion. Their GP María Dolores's treatment has made up for the bad experience at the first ultrasound. She has helped them "a lot" so far during this journey. Then there are the doctors who make an effort to use male pronouns with Dani, despite not being used to it.
Regina's fellow drag queens have fully taken on the role of fairy godmothers. The future mother says that "they are so 'dramatic' that they get down on their knees in front of Dani's belly". Regina herself dreams of throwing a show where she appears "with a false belly", shouting: "I'm going to be a mother!".
Their latest ultrasound confirmed that everything is okay and the couple continue preparing their home for the arrival of the baby. A baby needs a lot of space and they are finding it a bit difficult to put everything in its place - the nursery, the crib, all the baby 'territory' that is taking up the space where Regina used to store her wigs and drag costumes.
"Do I know the day we 'made' the baby?" Regina asks, while Dani looks at her and laughs. "If this sofa could talk, it would say it was the week of Dani's birthday," she says, adding some comments about a "Disney movie marathon", popcorn and a happy ending, suitable for a couple in love.
They are excited to find out the sex of the baby, to guess who it will look like, to reach week 38, then week 40, to have a baby shower. They are already playing with some name suggestions: Julieta for a girl and Alessandro or Miguel, after grandpa Miguel, for a boy.
Dani and Regina live in both joy and fear, but they are going through it together. Their life is changing for good and they are ready for the new chapter.