“Seahorse Parents” Challenges Preconceptions About Gender and Parenthood

Helena Likus ’26

Contributing Writer

“Seahorse Parents,” directed by Miriam Guttmann, is a short film that was screened at Cinestudio on Oct. 10 as a part of Queer Thursdays, which is a collaborative initiative between Cinestudio and Out Film CT, where every second Thursday of the month they show LGBTQ+ films. The ten-minute documentary portrayed vulnerable testimonies of four trans men who decided to get pregnant. The format of the movie was quite simple: Four men were individually asked questions about the hardships and experiences of pregnancy as trans men. All men were answering the questions while sitting shirtless in front of a bare wall, which amplified the vulnerability of their answers. The questions included topics such as what made them decide to get pregnant, body dysmorphia related to pregnancy and the societal response they faced. The movie had a minimalist format and at times touched on heavy themes, which did not, however, take away from the underlying joyfulness of the movie. One of the most powerful scenes in the movie, when one of the men is depicted embracing his children, highlights this joy. 

It wasn’t the first time the movie was screened worldwide. However, it was the first time it was screened on Trinity campus and it presented a unique opportunity to engage with the movie on a more personal level since it was followed by a Q&A with two seahorse parents – Liam and Alex. The questions were mostly focused on their family life now that their children were born. One answer was particularly relevant for the interpretation of the movie. Alex, being asked about his family life, said that he expected to love his child but he couldn’t have anticipated how strong the love would be. “Seahorse Parents” initially appears as an analysis of gender identity in relation to pregnancy but it ends as a beautiful testimony of parental love. 

One of the big themes that the movie explores is the fact that what one identifies as doesn’t deny the abilities that their body has. In this case, the fact that those trans men are men didn’t make it impossible for them to get pregnant, and since they always wanted children they decided to get pregnant despite the fact that it was controversial. 

 “Seahorse Parents” is about how this deep desire to be a parent defies preconceptions about identity. The most fundamental preconception about gender that this movie explores is that men don’t get pregnant. By its very design the movie proves this point wrong but it does so much more than that. The discussion of body dysmorphia related to pregnancy in the movie makes one more point very clear – for those men, it was a sacrifice to stop testosterone and allow their body to change, but they were willing to do it for their kids. Yet, society doesn’t view it as a sacrifice or hardship but rather as a whim. In the movie, many of the men shared that their pregnancy was met with disapproval even from people that were previously very supportive of their transition. This part of the movie exposed how deeply flawed the societal understanding of trans issues can be. It showed that society expects trans people to prove their gender identity by applying to gender norms and even that doing so is seen as a debt that trans people have to pay for acceptance. “Seahorse Parents” makes a vastly different argument: if these men always wanted to have children and get pregnant, why would they have to give up this desire just to prove to people that they are men?

There is a type of metanarrative that was formed around this movie, which made it even more relevant to life on campus. Many people, me included, happened to be there to show support for a lovely campus safety officer Edward, whose son (Liam) was one of the seahorse parents. There was so much parental love and unconditional support in the way he was talking about this movie, his son and his grandkid, that it felt like an honor to be a part of it.

“Seahorse Parents” does an amazing job in making one question many preconceptions about being trans and parenthood. However, most importantly, it is a beautiful depiction of how strong parental love can be.