Australian Story: Aug 10

Monday’s Australian Story highlights the changing nature of families, through a transgender man who gave birth to one of his children prior to gender re-assignment.

This episode is introduced by Carlotta.

Melbourne man AJ Kearns says he’s just an ordinary father living in the suburbs with his two young children. But many would disagree.

Born into a conservative Pentecostal family in Sydney, AJ spent the first 35 years of his life as a woman.

As a teenager, Vicki-Anne thought she was gay and attended controversial church-based conversion therapy in the hope of becoming heterosexual.

After years of struggle, AJ realised he was a man and took the courageous decision to transition and create a family with his partner Zu. But following complications with the birth of Zu’s biological child, AJ took the radical step of postponing his physical transition from female to male to become pregnant.

Psychiatrist Dr Fintan Harte says it’s the first time in over 30 years of practice that he’s encountered a ‘trans-identified male’ who has conceived a child.

‘From Daddy’s Tummy’ tells the story of AJ, his former partner Zu and their family. It also showcases a stunning photographic record of his physical transition by Melbourne artist Alison Bennett.

8pm Monday on ABC.