Trans man who birthed a baby loses court appeal to be registered as his child’s father

United Kingdom trans man Freddy McConnell has lost his court appeal to be registered as his child's father on the child's birth certificate, according to The Guardian.

McConnell appealed a previous high court judge's decision, which insisted that a person who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a child is legally a mother.

What are the details?

The outlet reported that three of London's appeal court judges upheld the previous ruling.

McConnell, a 34-year-old freelance journalist, now plans on taking the case to the Supreme Court, promising that his fight is "just not over."

Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett said that the nation's Gender Recognition Act required McConnell to be registered as the child's mother, as he gave birth to the child. Burnett also insisted that the GRA did not violate McConnell's rights to private and family life.

"There is no incompatibility between the GRA and the Convention," Burnett said. "In the result, we dismiss these appeals."

McConnell, a biologically born female, gave birth in 2018 after suspending his hormone treatment to become pregnant.

McConnell said that it is "distressing to be a trans person and have your most fundamental rights overlooked."

In September, the high court ruled that McConnell could not be registered as the child's father, and would legally remain the child's mother as designated on the child's birth certificate.

Andrew McFarlane, president of the high court's family division, said that being a "mother" refers to biologically carrying and delivering a child.

"Being a 'mother,' whilst hitherto always associated with being female, is the status afforded to a person who undergoes the physical and biological process of carrying a pregnancy and giving birth," McFarlane said at the time, and reiterated that there is a "material difference between a person's gender and their status as a parent."

You can read more on the case's background here.

What else?

McConnell is the subject of 2019 documentary, "Seahorse: The Dad Who Gave Birth." You can read more about the production and McConnell's background here.