Colombian model Danna Sultana and her partner Esteban Landrau are having a baby! The transgender couple—Danna was born male and Esteban was born female—made the announcement back in February that Esteban is pregnant with their baby, and they have been chronicling the pregnancy ever since on social media. The baby was conceived naturally, as both Danna and Esteban have their original reproductive organs. Esteban is in the late stages of pregnancy, and the baby is about to make an appearance any minute now.
More from MamásLatinas: What to do if your child tells you they are transgender at an early age
It appears that Esteban’s pregnancy has gone smoothly. At one point during his eighth month of pregnancy, though, he started having contractions and was pretty sure he was going into premature labor. He and Danna rushed to the hospital, only to be told that the contractions were false labor pains and perfectly normal. Phew! Keep reading to find out more about the couple, the pregnancy, and what they are going to name their baby boy because, yup, they’ve been told the baby’s sex!
Here's Esteban with the cutest pregnancy shirt ever!
Danna posted this picture of Esteban on her Instagram account on February 27. She captioned the photo: "The father of my son #ariellandrauperez I love youooooo @ f3f1to #transpregnacy." Notice the hashtag that reveals the baby will be named Ariel. Such a great name.
In this video, you can hear the baby’s heartbeat.
The baby's heartbeat is strong. Danna posted this video on February 29, and her caption reads, " dying of love #ArielLandrauPerez." Anyone who has ever had the experience of hearing their baby's hearbeat for the first time knows how monumental it feels.
Danna can’t wait to meet her baby!
Look at Danna's face as she kisses Esteban's baby bump. She is so filled with love, you can feel it. She captioned the video, "I can't wait," and we so get it. Waiting for your child to come into the world is exquisitely excruciating in a very good way.
Esteban appears to be having fun.
Pregnancy is wonderful, but it's not always easy. As you can see by the look on Esteban's face, however, he is enjoying the journey. And you should know that this journey was not an accident. Danna and Esteban met online via a hashtag, fell in love, and decided that they very much wanted to be parents. This pregnancy was planned.
This picture is in celebration of Esteban’s sixth month of pregnancy.
When Danna and Esteban met online, they lived in different places. Danna had moved from Colombia, where she had appeared on the show Colombia Tiene Talento, to New York, and Esteban was living in Puerto Rico, where he was born, and was working as a personal trainer. It wasn’t until a few months into the relationship that they met in person to celebrate Esteban’s birthday in Miami, Florida.
Esteban eventually moved to New York to be with Danna.
Once Esteban and Danna met in person, it was clear that their attraction and connection was strong and they wanted to be together. Esteban moved to New York, where Danna was doing well professionally, and they started talking about having a family together.
They consulted doctors and got the go-ahead.
After consulting doctors, they found out that since they both have their original reproductive organs, there was no reason they couldn't try to conceive a baby naturally. And so they got to trying and were thrilled when Esteban got pregnant.
They have been very open about their process and have received much support.
"Grateful to all the people who have supported us … ," wrote Esteban when he posted this video of Danna loving on his belly and their baby. And though it's true that the couple has tons of supporters—Danna has almost 300K followers on Instagram, and Esteban has 130K—they also face harsh criticism from many. All you have to do is take a look at the comments on their posts to find many hateful messages from people who just don't understand that love is love and that these two have as much right to be parents as anyone else.
This is a 3-D sonogram of Ariel that Danna shared.
They know that they are having a boy, but what if their baby ends up not identifying as a boy later in life? "The baby will be raised with the gender he is born with like any other boy. Later, when he is old enough, he can be gay, heterosexual. Nothing will be hidden from him. If necessary, we will work with a psychologist,” Esteban said in an interview.
Why has the couple been so deliberately public?
Danna said in an interview that she wanted to open the door so that people could see that transgender people have rights, and the human rights of all people are the same. She believes that sharing their journey will help others understand and be more accepting.
Here the couple celebrates eight months of pregnancy.
Swipe left to see Esteban's bare belly. It's not as big as you might think, but that might have something to do with Esteban's fitness level. Fitness has been a part of Esteban's life for a very long time. When he was a woman, he used to be a competitive weight lifter.
They aren't taking anything for granted.
"Enjoying each stage of our lives. I love you @dannasultana … #trans #transexual #transgender #transwoman #transmen #translove #transfobia #love #family #transpregnacy #pregnancy #baby," Esteban captioned this photo. Good for them!
They are going to be decorating the baby's nursery with giraffes.
"A totally wonderful experience, even more when @dannasultana and I enjoyed each stage together. Daddy God has blessed us with our expected son Ariel . With love everything is possible . Thank you @master_painting for such beautiful work done with us. Even more for the respect, empathy and affection towards us," wrote Esteban. The body paint is gorgeous and goes along with the giraffe theme they are going to use in the baby's nursery.
Wanna see some flashback photos?
Remember when people were doing the 10-year challenge on social media? These are the side-by-side pictures that Esteban posted to show his transformation. On the left you see Stephanie, and on the right is Esteban. "Here is my # 10yearchallenge #tans #transgender #transgenero #transmen #fitness #love," Esteban wrote in the caption.
This is Danna as a child.
That little boy you see on the left grew up to be the transgender woman on the right, Danna Sultana. We wish Danna, Esteban, and baby Ariel a wonderful life together. We hope that when Ariel is born, the couple feels comfortable sharing pictures, because we love baby pictures, but we understand if they choose to keep their child private.
