A couple in Ecuador is making history with a unique pregnancy: The father-to-be is carrying the baby of his transgender partner.

Fernando Machado and Diane Rodriguez announced their pregnancy on social media earlier this month. It's believed to be the first of its kind in South America, which has seen a sudden explosion in the rights and visibility of trans people.

Rodriguez is one of Ecuador's most-prominent LGBT activists and says she and her Venezuelan-born partner decided to publicize the pregnancy to help change attitudes in the country.

Although both take hormones, neither has undergone gender-reassignment surgery, so the child-to-be was conceived the old-fashioned way with no known medical complications to date.