TAYLOR and Chloe first laid eyes on each other seven years ago after meeting on a dating app. Taylor has felt he was a man ever since the age of four, but growing up in Romania he felt that he didn't have the language to express what he was inside. But after moving to the UK and seeing more representation in the media, he felt ready to start the medical process. At the time of meeting Chloe, Taylor legally identified as a woman, but two years later he began his medical transition into a man. Chloe explained: "When we met, Taylor was already using male pronouns and was male presenting. So we didn't have a conversation of, 'Oh, I'm trans.' It was very organic and it was a very natural conversation. And then it was the next year when [he] wanted to start hormones." Having an accepting partner by his side was invaluable for Taylor, "she took the reins," he said. "We made sure that we went to find the right doctor and made sure that they could understand exactly what [Taylor] needed so we could get the ball rolling," Chloe added. "I wanted to be like the supportive girlfriend and make sure that, no matter what, I'll be there for him." Seeing the change in Taylor's mental health has brought Chloe great joy: "He started testosterone and had his top surgery. You can tell that his confidence has blossomed. It's like he was finally the person that he wanted to be in the right body." Before Taylor started his medical transition he went through fertility treatment to harvest his eggs. After opening up about the process on social media the couple have received some negative comments about their journey into parenthood. However, they view it differently. "There are cis couples out there who cannot conceive naturally, and they will have IVF treatment in order to have a family. It's just that stigma with people thinking that because I'm transgender, I should not have kids," Taylor said. Comments include: 'You identify as a man, but you aren't a man, so you are lesbian' and 'She's a woman dressed as a man'. But the couple brushed off the bad comments and have chosen to focus on their love for each other instead. Chloe explained that: "Taylor's changed my life for the better. Meeting him has just been the best thing in my life." He agreed: "I appreciate so much that she looked beyond my transness and saw the person that I was inside and saw my soul."
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FunTranscript
00:00 This is Chloe. She fell in love with Taylor.
00:04 I first realised that I'm transgender when I was about 5 or 6.
00:08 To call me a lesbian is incorrect because I am not with another woman.
00:13 I am with a man.
00:14 We're just not a conventional couple.
00:16 After falling madly in love, the pair now want to have a baby.
00:20 I actually froze my eggs.
00:22 However, their happy bubble burst after Taylor came out online.
00:27 You may have chopped off your ***** and grew a beard, but you are still a female.
00:31 I think one of the worst comments that I've ever seen online is for Taylor to ***** himself.
00:36 This is my testosterone supply.
00:40 I take one injection every 12 weeks.
00:43 I always wanted to be a man and it helped my body get more masculine.
00:49 My voice changed.
00:50 It was like going through puberty all over again.
00:52 I started to get facial hair and body hair in some places where maybe I didn't want it.
00:59 Ever since that he started testosterone, you can really tell that his confidence just really blossomed.
01:05 It's like he was finally in the person he wanted to be, in the right body.
01:09 We met almost seven years ago.
01:11 We met on a dating app and we started talking.
01:14 We spoke for...
01:15 Non-stop.
01:16 Yeah, literally non-stop.
01:18 And then we went on a nice coffee date and then by our third date, we went to Paris.
01:24 When we met, Taylor already was using male pronouns, was already like...
01:29 Male presenting.
01:29 Male presenting.
01:31 So we didn't really have a conversation of, you know, "Oh, I'm trans."
01:34 It was very organic.
01:36 It was the next year where you wanted to start hormones.
01:41 She took the reins.
01:41 Yeah. I actually felt quite excited about you transitioning.
01:45 I really wanted to be like the supportive girlfriend and make sure that, you know, no matter what, I'll be there for him.
01:51 We do get a lot of hateful comments online because Chloe's in a relationship with a trans man.
01:56 We get a lot of religious comments from people who try to explain that it is not right in the eyes of God.
02:04 We do get the people who call me biologically still a female,
02:09 even though they don't get the difference between gender and biological sex.
02:13 Even though I was born a female, so I'm biologically a female.
02:17 I'm very aware that I can't change my DNA.
02:20 I'm very aware of the basic biology that we all learn in high school.
02:24 A lot of people just think that I'm a lesbian.
02:26 They don't understand the difference between sex and gender.
02:31 I am not with another woman.
02:33 I am with a man.
02:35 I'm pansexual, so I have the ability to be attracted to all different types of people.
02:39 The comment says, "You identify as a man, but you ain't a man, so you're lesbians."
02:43 "She's a woman dressed as a man."
02:46 "You may have chopped off your b***h and grew a beard, but you're still a female."
02:52 There we go.
02:53 I think one of the worst comments that I've ever seen online is for Taylor to f*** himself.
02:58 I don't even like saying that out loud because it makes me emotional.
03:01 I remember one specifically when someone told me to f*** myself just because I'm transgender.
03:06 "Someone please validate her great ovarian sacrifice."
03:09 I believe they are referring to the fact that I froze my eggs.
03:14 We get the comments that we should not start a family.
03:17 Basically, there's a lot of people telling us what we should or shouldn't do.
03:22 They are forgetting that it's our lives in the end, and we don't care.
03:26 I believe we respond to the judgment that we face with as much grace as possible.
03:31 We always try to be more educational and hoping that the people would actually take the time
03:38 to really listen to what we have to say.
03:41 Trans people can definitely have children.
03:44 The process is similar to other cis couples or even single people.
03:48 We do a type of IVF, but a lot of other people also go through IVF.
03:53 Just because we can't conceive naturally, that doesn't mean we cannot have babies.
03:58 A lot of comments that we get about starting a family are actually quite positive.
04:03 They're really excited for us and they can't wait for us to share more of our journey together.
04:08 When I decided to finally freeze my eggs, I went through a process where I had to inject myself with hormones.
04:14 After 10 days, I was scheduled to have the actual procedure.
04:18 I actually managed to harvest 8 matured eggs.
04:21 The way that we're going to have children is that the eggs will get defrosted.
04:26 They will get fertilised with the donor and then that will get implanted into me
04:32 and then I'll be the one to carry our baby to term.
04:36 There are cis couples out there who cannot conceive naturally
04:39 and they will appeal to the IVF treatment in order to have a family.
04:43 It's just that stigma with people thinking that because I'm transgender, I should not have kids.
04:49 We actually were really lucky. We have some amazing friends who thought,
04:53 "Let me gift them some stuff." So we got this really cute baby girl.
04:58 How sweet is that?
05:00 It's actually a tradition in my culture, me coming from Romania, to gift baby clothes.
05:04 It means good luck.
05:06 I think Taylor will definitely be the fun parent.
05:10 I think our kid will get away with so much with you and I'll be more of the disciplinarian.
05:14 Yeah, I think Chloe is going to be the very strict one.
05:19 The process of finding our sperm donor online was quite an extensive one.
05:24 You kind of felt like you were shopping but you weren't shopping
05:27 because you were looking for something for your future family.
05:30 We just picked the one that we thought was best suited for our family.
05:34 Somebody who was quite intelligent, somebody who loved their family,
05:39 somebody who has lots of different hobbies.
05:42 Some people seem to think that trans people should not have kids
05:45 because this might confuse their kids growing up
05:48 but actually they can understand a lot better what is going on
05:52 rather than an adult who already has some ideologies implanted in their brain.
05:57 So in this photo, for example, I know I was 18 and I just finished high school
06:02 and we went to the prom.
06:05 So I had to wear a dress, I couldn't go in a suit.
06:08 You can see here that I'm actually smiling but I was like screaming inside.
06:13 I started my medical transition almost six years ago.
06:17 You can see through my photos that I was starting to present
06:21 and look more and more masculine as I was growing up.
06:24 Before I had my top surgery, I used to wear very baggy clothes.
06:29 Mainly I used to wear hoodies because it was preventing other people
06:33 from seeing that I actually have a chest.
06:35 When it comes to bottom surgery, I don't necessarily like to tell people
06:40 if I did have or have not had bottom surgery
06:42 because what's between my legs does not define me as a person.
06:46 Moving away from my birth country, from Romania,
06:49 it really changed the views on myself in terms of possibilities
06:53 and I realised that there is much more to the world out there
06:57 and the world is actually a much better place when people are more accepting.
07:02 I'm just so happy that now his insides matches what he looks like on the outside.
07:08 One of the things that I love about her is that she's very sassy in a good way.
07:13 That's on camera now, so you can't see. You love sassiness.
07:16 I do, I love your sassiness.
07:18 Taylor's definitely changed my life for the better.
07:21 Meeting him has just been the best thing in my life
07:25 that I've ever felt so deeply about somebody.
07:28 I appreciate that she looked past beyond my transness
07:33 and saw the person that I was inside and saw my soul.
07:38 In the future, I hope that we have a couple of babies
07:41 and I hope that we can get married and just live a really happy life together.
07:47 Triplets.
07:48 No, no triplets.
07:51 We can grow.
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