How We Do Family

Hardback

Lessons learned in adoption, trans pregnancy, and LGBTQ parenthood

Trystan Reese is a gay transgender man married to Biff, a gay man who is not transgender. The young couple had been together a little over a year when they learned that Biff's one-year-old niece, Hailey, and three-year-old nephew, Riley, were about to be removed from their home by Child Protective Services because of abuse and neglect. Trystan and Biff made an immediate decision to take them in. Overnight, they became parents to two tiny, scared kids and took the first steps toward building a safe, loving, and nurturing home for their new family. After five years of legal battles they adopted Hailey and Riley, and soon after, decided to grow their family biologically with a child that Trystan would carry. He had a pre-pregnancy check-up, stopped taking testosterone, became pregnant, and in 2017 gave birth to Leo.

In How We Do Family, Trystan weaves together his personal story of finding self-love, growing into his relationship and role as an adoptive parent, carrying and giving birth to a biological child, and raising confident and socially aware children - all while sharing lessons he's learned about being the best parent, partner, and person that you can be. While there are countless details that make Trystan's non-traditional family unique, there are many more ways that they are just like any other.