#pre-op

Dear Gus & Magnus,

Welp, the time has come. You two are not going to have any more siblings. Mom took me to get a vasectomy this morning.

I don't like altering my body because I have what is probably an overinflated trust in the body's ability to maintain a self-sustaining environment within us. There is no evidence that getting a vasectomy will hurt our chances of fighting off future diseases. BUT IT MIGHT. Regardless, Mom has sacrificed her body in a myriad of ways for this family, so I was happy to sacrifice mine for this procedure. Other than having my wisdom teeth (plus two more) pulled 20 years ago, this is my only operation. Though I did get some stitches a few years ago.

The most memorable part of the procedure was when the anesthesia started to wear off and I could hear Mom telling the nurse (?) that "He has a hard time relaxing, so he's probably really enjoying this." And that was exactly what was happening. I didn't want to wake up. Mom knows me well.

And she took good care of me at home.

We talked to both of you yesterday about my being in recovery. Magnus didn't latch onto anything, but Gus had questions. "But...babies don't come from you -- they come from Mom." We explained that it's more complicated than that, and that -- just like animals -- it takes male parts and female parts to make a baby. He said, "But Cooper has two moms. How did they make a baby?" I told him there were various ways for two moms to make a baby, but all of those ways require male parts, which they may have...eh...borrowed. His eyes got big and he said, "IT CAME OFF!?" I told him we'd talk more about it in the next few years, but also asked him not to talk to his friends about it until we could talk more. Stay tuned.

Dad.

actually if you use "pre-op" when you mean "transgender and has all their default parts" I am biting you on the shin very hard 🙃