Gender Transitions Are About “Rebirth,” Not a Moral Wrong, Argues Trans Filipina Mother

Sofiya Pacifico-Huggins with her daughter, Maia

Catholic faith is what has been the source of strength for a trans Filipina woman living in Australia throughout both her gender transition and her journey of becoming a mother through surrogacy.

Sofiya Pacifico-Huggins, a trans Filipina-Australian woman and devout Catholic, says that her faith is “a large part” of her identity. “I am a devout Catholic and a Filipino. Our faith is part of our culture and it speaks of who we are,” she said in a profile in SBS Filipino.

Catholicism has always been a part of her life, and so has an awareness that she is not cisgender. “I may not have been born a woman,” she said, “but I have a feminine energy and spirit. I’m nurturing of everyone around me, especially of my family and my daughter.”

Pacifico-Huggins says that she and her family were aware that her gender differed from the sex assigned to her at birth at a very young age, observing: “When I started transitioning when I was 21, it wasn’t something surprising to my family. It was just a given.”

Her faith was a personal resource as she began hormone treatments, entered a long-term relationship, and began exploring options for welcoming children into her life. Eventually, Pacifico-Huggins and her partner decided on surrogacy. “When we got together,” she said, “I knew I wanted to give him a child and there was no other way to do that but to have someone else carry the child for me.” An old friend and neighbor in Pacifico-Huggins’ hometown of Cebu offered to be the surrogate.

Pacifico-Huggins leaned heavily on her faith during the pregnancy and devoted herself to prayer: “I prayed hard and said to God that if my daughter survived her nine-month journey, I would name her after ‘Mary’, Mother of God. That’s why I called her Maia, after our Lady.”

As her daughter has grown up, Pacifico-Huggins continued her devotion: “I only ask the good Lord that I will live long enough to see [Maia] grow up and prosper. All I want is for her to be happy. That’s one of the dreams that I have.”

As much as her Catholic faith has been a source of strength and comfort throughout the major transitions of her life, Pacifico-Huggins is aware of the tensions brought by the church’s teachings on both surrogacy and gender transition, especially those laid out in Dignitas Infinita, the Vatican’s declaration on human dignity that was quite negative about both.

Many of the issues the declaration condemned are about death, Pacifico-Huggins continued, “Gender reassignment is about rebirth and surrogacy is about bringing life to this world. Why would they be equal?”

“There’s no winning with the church; but also I cannot criticise,” she said. Being a part of the church is a major part of who she is, and she is hopeful that the church will continue to grow, learn, and adapt, as she recognized:

“‘The church is made up of well-educated individuals and I do believe they are guided; but also because of tradition, they don’t instantly adapt to the modern world…I respect their arguments and message, but I believe the church evolves and that’s how it survives. Change will be gradual though. As for me and my life, I am who I am, and I know for certain that I helped bring my child into this world because of love.'”

—Phoebe Carstens (they/them), New Ways Ministry, August 28, 2024