For ten years, Danny Wakefield has been fighting for the LGBT cause, and this time in an even more powerful way: as a man giving birth.
The power of bringing a life into the world is difficult to explain in words, but the photographic records of the moment of birth have been a beautiful way of transporting ourselves to that moment. So it was with the journey of American influencer Danny Wakefield, a trans man who gave birth to his daughter Wilder Lea last Saturday (28), after ten hours of labor.
In a sequence of six emotional photographs, Danny appears sitting in a low-ceilinged swimming pool, using all his strength so that the little one could come into the world through a normal birth. And, in the last click, we finally have the big moment. She appears lying on her chest, while her father cannot contain the emotion of having her in her arms for the first time.
“This is the moment my Wilder met the world. This little ʋin so fast after I started pushing that my [ʋaginal] lip split, plus I needed five internal stitches. Until they heal, I have four sores and have never felt so hard about my battle wounds in my entire life.”
Before the images of the birth itself, Danny also shared a video in which he appears bidding for the last time so that his daughter could be born. At the moment, it is also striking to have his mother on one side of the pool, holding his hand and wearing a protective mask against the corona virus, an extremely necessary item for anyone accompanying the birth at this time of pandemic
Post shared by Danny Wakefield (@dannythetransdad)
And for those who wanted to see the little girl’s expression up close, Danny shared an emotional photo of his daughter lying on his chest, in skin-to-skin contact, just after birth. “All of you told me the truth, this is the most incredible moment of my life,” the father declared.
Even before the birth of his daughter, Danny had been doing important work for ten years on the Internet to raise awareness about respect for the trans body. But with their growing tummy during pregnancy, that struggle has been transposed so that people can more easily see what it’s like to be a fat parent.
Thus, in his latest publication, still in development, he did an in-depth report on the subject. “This ƄeƄé is still baking, but it’s Ƅien. I look at my belly and I have never seen such beauty in my body. The pregnancy gave me permission to love him to the level that my soul feels”, wrote the influencer.
“At first, I felt very insecure about my body size during this pregnancy. I remember a few months ago I was unexpectedly weighed on a visit to the emergency room and immediately felt embarrassed. I felt ʋashamed that my body had already gained an additional 70 pounds. I felt ʋembarrassed that the number that gave me the look made me momentarily dislike everything about my body. But, as @brenebrown says, silence is a petri dish for growing ʋembarrassment, so I haƄlé about that,” Danny continued.
“I sat with my ʋerguerza without trying to silence her. I held him as I would hold my own newborn, and slowly that “embarrassment” dissolved. My body is big and beautiful, it doesn’t matter what number looks at me”, emphasized the influencer. She also said that, three years ago, she received constant praise for being thin. But what people didn’t know is that he was deeply addicted to methamphetamine and was sicker than ever.
Thus, Danny’s request is also that of many other fat people, whose bodies appear in public for other people’s unsolicited guesses. “Please, he stops commenting on other people’s bodies. You never know what someone else is going through or how close to death you really are, regardless of how “good” you think,” he emphasized.
The influencer also left a message for those who follow him and are facing some kind of addiction: “If you are fighting addiction right now, I hear you. You are worthy of leaving and recovery. We bounce back, and when we do, our biggest dreams come true.”