06/12/2026
It's officially PRIDE MONTH! And to celebrate this month, our KTQ 'Uncut Gem' 💎 is celebrating the trans and q***r experience with pregnancy with Oliverio 'Oli' Rodriguez's endearing and informative documentary, PAPI'S PREGNANT.
KTQ's Program Coordinator, Sydney Bauer writes...
In the feature documentary. PAPI'S PREGNANT, director Oli Rodriguez's infectious personality blooms through the screen, adding a wonderful sense of humor and quirkiness to a film about a medically complicated and potentially traumatic experience. The film begins with the quintessential q***r story: coming out to your parents. As the film progresses, the audience grows alongside Oli - both in age and in pregnancy. We see the years-long process it took to learn about trans-masc pregnancies, succeed in getting pregnant, and the journey of labor and delivery itself. We meet the various physicians who provided the care Oli needed to bring him to parenthood, their explanations of the process illuminated through animation.
It was such an honor to learn so deeply about Oli as a person and learn even more about the various methods of conception. In a world where trans & gender expansive people are losing rights every day, stories like PAPI’S PREGNANT remind us that q***r and trans healthcare is of utmost importance. Gender-affirming care IS life-affirming care, helping q***r and trans people make the choices that are best for them.
From a personal experience, my sister and her husband experienced infertility for a number of years before having a child through surrogacy - one of her lifelong friends offered to carry their embryo created through IVF (as discussed in the film!). Although my sister and her husband are both cis, to me, telling these stories of "non-traditional" conception is so important and it is a representation that often isn't thought of. For many people, conception and pregnancy is a bumpy road, with potholes of heartbreak on every block. It was a joy to see Oli find his way to parenthood, and see how expansive the idea of "it takes a village" can actually be.
Check out the film and the review on our Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/kartemquin/film/papis-pregnant/
