Ziya And Zahad Denied Adoption As A Trans Couple, But See The Miracle Now!

Ziya and Zahad, a trans couple from Kerala are expecting their first baby. Yes, by natural birth. The soon-to-be parents have taken the internet by storm, with their love, courage, and of course the cute pregnancy photoshoot. Ziya, assigned male at birth, has now transformed into a woman. Zahad, assigned female at birth, stalled his transformation, to give birth to their first child.

Their relationship is so beautiful. Ziya always harbored the wish to become a mother, and for his love for Ziya, Zahad went ahead with the pregnancy. It’s the first time a transman is birthing a baby, indeed a rare and proud moment, where love overcomes it all.

A little more reading into their story and Ziya reveals, she and Zahad have been living together for the past three years, and they were looking forward to making a family, but were denied adoption. When all legal doors closed, they realized that Zahad could give birth. His breasts had been removed, but he had his uterus, so the natural process was possible. Zahad will be both a father and mother, he proudly declares.

And this got me thinking, how many trans couples do we meet every day? Like a family, with kids, at schools, movies, or playgrounds? As The Print rightly says, where are India’s Queer Parents? Ever seen them anywhere in public?

Where are the rights for our queer couples?

Their struggle has been immense, right from the transphobia in near family, to almost everyone else in society. Shamed, bullied, and even criminalized for their orientation over which they have no control. Then came the path-breaking decision in India, abolishing Article 377 forever. Like many, I thought this was all the equality that the LGBTQ community was demanding for long. Little did I know that this was just half battle won.

Consensual sex among homosexual people was legalized, and they could have a live-in relationship, but legally registering marriage is still a daunting task for the transgender community, in fact the decision is still pending in Supreme Court in spite of thousands of petitions. The marriage act in our country still asks for a Male Groom and a Female Bride. I read that a couple was told to produce their cis certificates, to legalize their marriage, because they didn’t satisfy the definitions of Bride and Groom.

When the marriage isn’t being registered, how can they go ahead with adoption? Straight, single people wishing to adopt have to go through vast paperwork, produce numerous documents, and go through lots of hassles, as rules are very stringent. Then what hope do trans-couples have, when their relationship and gender identities aren’t even recognized? As of now, the law states that only males or females can adopt a child, there is no mention of transgenders. Why, have we stopped to wonder? We are well into the 21st century, but some things never change, we don’t muster the courage.

Or maybe, as I have mentioned in an earlier article of mine, apart from revising the laws, the existence of the Third Gender should be included in the curriculum from early on, so that the youth is familiarized with the problems they face and the stigma around homosexuality is reduced manifold.

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Like Ziya and Zahad, there are so many transpersons, law-abiding citizens, meaning no harm, capable of infinite love, eager to parent, hoping to bestow life upon an innocent little human, but being denied of all their dreams. Denied a family, happiness, and everything beautiful, just because we as a nation, refuse to do something so simple, accept them, and mind our own business.

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