Evan Hempel, a 35-year-old man, has become a father after giving birth to his son in April 2016. Hempel had come out as transgender 16 years prior and had been taking hormones since 2003 to physically transition into a male. Hempel’s pregnancy is an example of how modern families are being redefined in society.

Hempel is described as a stocky man of medium height with a trimmed, fuzzy blonde beard and two gem studs in each earlobe. He typically wears a Red Sox hat, and when he’s nervous, he’ll remove it and obsessively bend the rim.

In a recent interview with TIME, Hempel’s sister Jessi discussed how his pregnancy represents modern families. While he was not sure how it would all play out, Hempel said his experience was almost entirely positive.

Hempel went to the HR department at work to tell them he was pregnant, and the representative was delighted about the news and congratulated him, saying, “Well, this is surprised, but that’s great!” This conversation, along with the images used to illustrate Hempel’s tale, conveys positive signals about society’s rising acceptance of transgender people becoming parents.

When you consider that Hempel did not inform many people he was having a baby, Jessi said the favorable response was “least shocking.” Hempel said that while he dodged the wistful doting of strangers who mistook his large tummy for something else, he felt he lost out on the wistful doting that other pregnant females receive.

“People talk about the attention you get when you’re pregnant, and for the most part, that was absent for me,” he says. “Mostly I liked that because I don’t like body attention normally, but there’s also a loss.”

One obstacle for Hempel was his medical insurance, which would not cover pregnancy tests and other things because he was registered as male, even though he identifies as a male with a female gender. Hempel eventually had to change his gender to female on his medical insurance.

Hempel’s pregnancy is an example of how modern families are being redefined in society. The majority of people welcomed the father throughout his pregnancy, which signals society’s rising acceptance of transgender people becoming parents. Hempel’s story is a reminder that anyone can become a parent, regardless of their gender identity.