In a new podcast for BBC Sounds, Freddy McConnell explores how the family is being redefined today.

When Freddy McConnell started his transition seven years ago, his doctors told him he’d never be able to have his own child. But they were wrong. Freddy gave birth to his first child in 2018.

In Pride & Joy, Freddy sets out to find other stories from beyond the traditional nuclear family. He meets a 61-year-old grandmother who gave birth to her granddaughter, a trans man who became an egg donor, a gay couple who searched long and hard for a surrogate and a child who has five co-parents.

He reveals their often-unheard stories of heartache, courage and joy, discovering along the way a whole world of queers taking quietly radical steps to make their dreams of family come true.

Freddy recently made headlines while fighting a court battle to have trans parents' identities recognised on their children's birth certificates. His own experience of having a child was documented in the recent film Seahorse: The Dad Who Gave Birth.

Freddy says: “Like me, queer people all over the world are discovering all their options for having kids. More importantly, we’re realising it’s OK to want this, no matter who you are or who you love. But of course, this podcast is for everyone – it’s a series of deeply human love stories."

Pride & Joy will start on BBC Sounds on Monday 18 May.