First British man to give birth reveals abuse and death threats from online trolls

Hayden Cross halted gender realignment process in order to have daughter Trinity-Leigh

Hayden Cross said he would not be raising his daughter gender neutral (ITV)

A British man who gave birth to a baby girl last month has revealed he was sent abusive messages and death threats by online trolls.

Hayden Cross, 21, gave birth to daughter Trinity-Leigh Louise Cross on 16 June after becoming the first UK man to become pregnant.

Mr Cross, who is from Gloucester, was born female but has been living legally as a man for the last three-and-a-half years. He became pregnant using sperm from a donor he found on Facebook.

The new father revealed he had been the victim of abusive messages from social media users around the world, prompting him to delete his accounts.

“You’re lucky I don’t see you”, one user wrote.

“Someone should get rid of this guy”, said another.

Responding to the abuse, Mr Cross told The Sun: “I have the best thing in the world now – they only have hate.

“All I can do is try to ignore it all and keep Trinity-Leigh safe,” he said.

“When I first said I was expecting I got loads of abuse, people that aren’t even in this country were sending me messages over the internet.

“I am not scared, I have to turn the other way and focus on bringing up my little girl.

“The people that write these things about me are cowards. What am I doing to hurt anyone?”

Mr Cross said he was bringing his daughter up as a girl rather than a gender neutral child but would support her if she was transgender.

“I would support Trinity-Leigh if she was trans”, he said. “Obviously I know what it is like so I could understand.

“I just want her to be happy and content in who she is.

“I wouldn’t want to register her as gender neutral because she is a little girl, just because I am trans it doesn’t mean she will be.”

The father halted his gender realignment programme in order to get pregnant after the NHS refused to freeze his eggs so he could have a child at a later date.

He now plans to continue with the process, which will include having his breasts and ovaries surgically removed.