The Pregnant Trans Woman That Broke the Internet (And Why You Believed It)

Mother. Myth. Matriarch.

In a world where trans people are constantly smeared by fake news and fear-mongering headlines, I decided to flip the script.

Over the past few months, I ran a social experiment — a trap, if you will. The bait? A fabricated story so outrageous it should’ve been obvious. The results? Disturbing... but not surprising.

MODERN MATRIARCH

### The Experiment

The premise was simple: I created fictional content designed to look like news about transgender people — the kind of story that would make the average person blink twice. Not because it was believable, but because it fed into the same tired prejudices many already hold.

The most successful piece? A mock magazine cover for Modern Matriarch, featuring a fictional version of myself — “Aeris Houlihan: First Trans Woman on Earth to Announce Pregnancy.”

A biological impossibility? Yes. A glaring satire? Also yes.

And yet — people believed it. Not a few. Not just trolls. Whole communities of people shared it, debated it, and raged about it.

What’s more — every single post and video I made on the topic was clearly marked with #Satire. I wasn’t hiding the punchline. But it turns out, most people don’t read beyond the headline — and even fewer bother to think critically when the story fits their favourite prejudice.

### What I Discovered

The results were both fascinating and unsettling:

• Confirmation bias is everything

  People who already held negative views about transgender individuals were the quickest to believe — even the most absurd claims — if it reinforced their existing fears or disgust.

• No one checks the facts

  A simple Google search would’ve shown that the story, the magazine, and the so-called “news” were fake. But the majority never bothered. They just clicked “share.”

• Emotion overrides reason

  If the post made someone feel something — outrage, fear, confusion, superiority — they passed it along without a second thought. Feelings trumped facts.

• Echo chambers legitimise lies

  Once the fake content landed in the right Facebook group it became “truth” through repetition. Each comment or retweet added a layer of false credibility.

• No one reads the bloody hashtags

  Despite tagging every piece with #Satire, the loudest, most reactionary responses came from people who clearly hadn’t read a single word of the caption. This kind of lazy media consumption is the breeding ground for misinformation.

### The Broader Context

Let’s not pretend this happened in a vacuum.

Trans people are already drowning in a sea of false narratives — from our healthcare to our existence in public spaces. It’s not just fringe internet trolls. Mainstream newspapers and public figures pedal half-truths, skewed statistics, and sensationalist fiction as if it were fact.

And the consequences aren’t just digital. They’re physical, legislative, and violent.

My satire didn’t cause this problem. It just held up a velvet-framed mirror to it.

### Ethical Considerations

Yes, I knew this would be controversial. I’m not naïve.

Creating fictional content, even clearly satirical, to make a point can raise ethical questions. But unlike the misinformation that harms us daily, my aim wasn’t to deceive — it was to expose how easily deception works when it flatters bigotry.

I have always clarified the purpose behind the posts. I didn’t lie. I revealed how easily others will believe a lie if it confirms what they already want to think about people like me.

And that, my dear reader, is the entire point.

### Moving Forward

What should we take away from all this?

• Be suspicious of content that makes you furious

  If it’s engineered to enrage, it deserves more scrutiny, not less.

• Stop and verify

  Check sources. Ask yourself: “Is this backed up anywhere reputable? Does this sound real?” You don’t need a PhD to spot a fake.

• Acknowledge your own biases

  We all have them. They’re not shameful — unless we pretend they don’t exist and let them run the show.

• Think before you share

  Misinformation about marginalised people leads to real-world harm. Trans lives don’t exist to be your moral panic.

• Read past the bloody headline

  Or at the very least, notice the #Satire tag.

This isn’t just a “trans issue.” It’s a societal illness — a digital decay of critical thinking. And it’s poisoning our ability to talk, to connect, to grow.

My hope isn’t to mock those who fell for the post — but to illuminate how dangerously easy it is to be manipulated when we let our prejudices read the internet for us.

So the next time you see a headline that seems too bizarre to be true, ask yourself:

Is this reality… or is it just another goth in a velvet dress holding up a mirror?

With love and a smirk,

Aeris Houlihan

Modern Matriarch. Digital Trickster. Professional Trans Nightmare.