Cock-birthing

It seems, by a miracle of modern medicine that men can have babies. Real men, that is according to advice recently given to midwives at Edinburgh Napier University. The guidance was given that a person making the transition from being a man to being a man with boobs who presents at the maternity unit may: “still have external male genitalia”. Some sensible Napier students leaked this biological impossibility to the press and, of course, to widespread and well-earned ridicule. A university spokesperson then issued a statement to the effect that “men could give birth through a surgically-constructed penis” had been added. What they had meant to say, they say, was that the: “…situation refers to a female who has transitioned to male. So the person has surgery to construct a penis but still has a uterus and may conceive.”

But not good enough Edinburgh Napier as the original statement was quite clear and well formed to say: “…while most times the birthing person will have female genitalia, you may be caring for a pregnant or birthing person while transitioning from male to female and may still have external male genitalia.” The advice was also included that the midwives would have to learn how to catheterise a “male to female” transgender person. There is no possibility that this was a careless error.

What could possibly explain such a ridiculous statement? The possibilities include:

• Human biology—in which I have an honours degree and a doctorate—has changed since I was a lad
• The person was biologically illiterate (let us pray to God that it was not a midwife)
• They were a complete idiot
• This pervasive nonsense about transgenderism has penetrated the human psyche to such an extent that people are genuinely confused, or
• The person is a trans-inclusionary fanatic who wishes that this were possible, and wants to convince others that it could be so.

We will probably never know, but the fact that anyone is wasting their time on this bollocks (or lack thereof) shows how far removed from reality some people are. The very thought that anyone could push a non-binary bundle of joy out of their penis, even a surgically-constructed one, stretches credibility to the limit. Presumably, it also stretches the penis beyond the limit. It also suggests that a woman who wants to become a woman with a penis and pretend that she is a man—but then wants to have a baby—has not really decided that she wants to be a man after all. This is just a case of having your fairy cake and eating it too.

The LBGTQwerty movement has just produced a report Trans + Non Binary Experiences of Maternity Services. The report is subtitled Survey findings, report and recommendations but could easily have been subtitled How the whole world and its midwives must revolve around the needs of a very small minority of people the majority of whom are clearly mentally ill. The report states that midwifery services are especially discriminatory to: “Multiply marginalised trans men and non-binary people, most notably those trans men and non-binary respondents who were Black and people of colour” which seemed a wheelchair short of a truly inclusive statement to me. They claim: “When compared to women in (maternity services) we can see significant inequality of experience, with trans and non-binary birth parents reporting poorer experiences” without a hint of irony that anyone who is giving birth to a baby IS A WOMAN.

There should be more: “Visible markers of inclusion such as posters, badges, including name badges with pronouns, and lanyards.” and hospitals should be: “Using social media and communications channels to mark such days as Trans Parent Day (first Sunday in November) and Trans Day of Visibility (31st March).” Who knew such days existed? Of course, midwives need more: “training on the specific needs of trans and non-binary people accessing maternity, neonatal and perinatal services”. Yes indeed, when in some hospitals it appears that midwives actually need training in how to deliver babies safely and to stop stuffing women’s heads full of dangerous concepts such as natural births.

If we lived in Shangri-la where everyone could afford to heat their homes, put food on the table and where we could accommodate every illegal immigrant who washed up in a dinghy, maybe we could, perhaps, think about making sure that absolutely everyone was catered for to the nth degree of their peccadilloes, perversions and preferences. But we don’t. The country is on its financial knees; we are funding a war which may well result in our annihilation, and people are still scurrying around with useless strips of cloth on their faces. I am not sure how, but it has got to stop.

Roger Watson is a retired academic, editor and writer. He is a columnist with Unity News Network and writes regularly for a range of conservative journals including The Salisbury Review and The European Conservative. He has travelled and worked extensively in the Far East and the Middle East. He lives in Kingston upon Hull, UK.