There was a time when it's a no-brainer to describe a family. That basic unit of society consists of a married couple—a man who is the father and a woman who is the mother—and their child or children who are straight boys or girls.
However, nowadays, there are "families" that could be very confusing to describe, according to Charisma News' Line of Fire columnist Michael Brown.
"Today, you have to figure out if the man who is marrying the woman is actually a man and if the woman who is marrying the man is actually a woman," Brown says, referring to the growing assertiveness of transgenders to explore the boundaries of human relationships.
Brown says the complicated lives of transgenders "make it difficult to figure out if the man is the father or the mother and if the woman is the mother or the father."
The author says the headline of an article that appeared on Fox Latino News showcases this complication. The headline reads: "Male partner pregnant with baby of transgender couple in Ecuador."
"What? A man is pregnant? And he's part of a transgender couple? How does this work?" Brown asks.
The Fox Latino News article reads that "a couple in Ecuador is making history with a unique pregnancy. The father-to-be is carrying the baby of his transgender partner."
The couple's names are Fernando Machado and Diane Rodríguez, but Fernando was born María while Diane was born Luis, according to the article.
"This means that the pregnant 'male' is a biological female who is now the man of the house (albeit a pregnant man) while his 'female' partner is a biological male who is now the lady of the house," Brown explains.
According to the article, the couple did not have sex-change surgery, which would have prevented them from producing a baby. But the couple did take hormones to change their bodies to conform to their gender perceptions, it says.
"That means that Diane, who has male private parts, impregnated Fernando, who has female private parts," Brown explains further.
"That also means that even though Diane fathered the baby and Fernando will carry the baby in his womb (are you getting all this?), Diane, the biological male who supplied the sperm, will be the mother and Fernando, who provided the egg, will be the father," he says.
Sadly, Brown says, this unique transgender pregnancy and other complicated transgender arrangements are becoming more and more common.
He says this "madness" has got to stop, stressing that there is a "need to get to the root causes of transgender confusion so that we can help them find true wholeness."
Brown says transgender confusion victimises the children. "Can anyone say to me with a straight face that having your mother be your father and your father be your mother is in the best interest of the child? That there will no confusion or emotional scars for this child as he or she grows up and understands biological and social realities?" he asks.
