Transgender inmates impregnate two female prisoners after consensual sex in corrections facility  

Transgender inmates in an all-women corrections facility have impregnated two female inmates after having consensual sex.

Prisons officials at only all-women prison in New Jersey, USA, disclosed that the pregnant women are in gaol at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility in Clinton, which accommodates 27 prisoners who identify as transgender and over 800 women in total.

The State Department of Corrections’ External Affairs Executive Director, Dan Sperrazza, confirmed the incident, saying that officials are investigating the matter. The director was cited to have stated: “they fell pregnant after engaging in “consensual sexual relationships with another incarcerated person.

“While DOC cannot comment on any specific disciplinary or housing decisions that may be considered in light of these events, the Department always reserves all options to ensure the health and safety of the individuals in its custody.”

It was highlighted that Edna Mahan began to accommodate prisoners who identify as transgender women in 2021 under a New Jersey policy enacted which allows prisoners to be housed in accordance with their preferred gender identity as opposed to their sex assigned at birth.

“The policy change,” according to the authorities, “was part of a settlement by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey and attorney Robyn Gigl of GluckWalrath LLP who sued the N.J. Department of Corrections and its officers in August 2019 on behalf of a trans woman.

“Plaintiffs in the lawsuit, who went by pseudonyms, alleged that they had faced harassment and abuse and were denied gender-appropriate clothing among other things when they had been incarcerated in male prisons over the years despite identifying as female.

“The policy also applies to trans women inmates who have yet to undergo gender-reassignment surgery.”