Fact Check

Did a Gay Couple 'Celebrate the World's First Anal Birth'?

A routine review of content labeled satire.

Published Sept. 11, 2020

Claim:
In 2020, a gay couple celebrated the world's first "anal birth" after a woman's ovaries were transplanted into a man.

On Aug. 30, 2020, World News Daily Report published an article positing that a gay couple in Los Angeles, California, had taken part in the world's first "anal birth," after a woman's ovaries were transplanted into a man.

Same-Sex Couple Celebrates World's First Anal Birth After Successful Rectal-Ovary Transplant

A Los Angeles same-sex couple has successfully given birth anally to a healthy 8.2-pound baby for the first time in history.

The LGBTQ community worldwide has received the news of the rectal birth with open arms as the revolutionary medical procedure could enable millions of fertility-challenged couples to procreate.

James Bent, 37, received donated ovaries from his sister Leila Bent, 32, which were later successfully transplanted into his rectum and which enabled the anal birth to occur.

The article also contained what were presented as photographs of the couple with their baby, as well as a doctor named as "Dr. Peter Krisnawasti," who was quoted as saying: "This medical procedure will not only be useful to male same-sex couples but also to heterosexual couples where the male partner wishes to experience the process of pregnancy for himself."

This item was not a factual recounting of real-life events. The article originated with a website that describes its output as being humorous or satirical in nature, as follows:

WNDR assumes all responsibility for the satirical nature of its articles, and for the fictional nature of their content. All characters appearing in the articles in this website — even those based on real people —  are entirely fictional, and any resemblance between them and any persons, living, dead, or undead is purely a miracle.

Other clues that the story was fabricated could be found in the images it used. The photograph of the doctor, Krisnawasti, from the California Hospital Medical Center, actually showed a doctor named Samir Kapadia, from the Cleveland Clinic:

The photograph of the couple holding their baby was actually taken in June 2014, by baby and family photographer Lindsay Foster. It shows Toronto, Ontario, couple Frank Nelson and BJ Barone holding their newborn son Milo, who was born through a surrogate mother:

Although the World News Daily Report website includes a disclaimer as to the purportedly satirical nature of its content, the article was subsequently republished by several other sites that do not carry that label, and did not indicate to their readers that the story originated on a self-styled satire site.

For background, here is why we sometimes write about satire/humor.

Sources

World News Daily Report.  "Same-Sex Couple Celebrates World's First Anal Birth After Successful Rectal-Ovary Transplant."   30 August 2020.

Slaughter, Graham.  "Photo of Toronto Dads With Newborn Son Goes Viral."   The Toronto Star.  3 July 2014.