Transgender teen who grew up with male genitalia gets pregnant

A transgender teenager born with male genitalia has become pregnant after finding out she also had functional female reproductive organs. Mikey Chanel, 18, from Boston Massachusetts identifies as a female despite being raised as a boy by his family. At the age of 13, Mikey came out as gay and later explored the possibilities of being transgender.

While still in utero, tests determined that Chanel's mother was going to give birth to a baby girl. However, doctors and Chanel's parents were shocked when the expected baby girl came out with male genitalia.

It was only last year, when Chanel was undergoing routine tests, that doctors revealed she had internal female reproductive organs.

"They told me that I had a cervix, ovaries, uterus and fallopian tubes and that I could get pregnant if I wanted to", Chanel said.

Also known as Persistent Müllerian duct syndrome (PMDS), it is a rare condition where an individual carries external male genitalia but has female internal reproductive organs. Typically, people diagnosed with PMDS do not have a vaginal opening but can still experience menstruation through bleeding found in urine and semen.

Medical experts say people with PDMS are prone to serious life-threatening medical issues such as cancerous tumours if the patient forgoes a hysterectomy.

After her diagnosis, Chanel was given the same warning after learning that his male reproductive organs were infertile. She decided to take the chance of conceiving her own child before finally undergoing a full hysterectomy, the Daily Mail wrote.

"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."

Chanel then underwent a series of fertility procedures that involved donor sperm being injected directly into her ovaries to fertilize an egg. However, since she did not have a vaginal opening, three fertilised embryos were implanted into her fallopian tube via the abdominal cavity.

Doctors prescribed estrogen to help Chanel with the pregnancy, which she said now makes her feel more like a woman. Although her doctors warned of only a 20 percent chance of the procedure working , Chanel is now four months pregnant. She hopes to continue her transition further after her baby is born.