Danae Hudson is one of the most unique and riveting characters ever to be a part of Teen Mom. Young people struggling with life, in general, is tough enough, but for a pregnant teen and her spouse, things are even more difficult. When you’re dating a pregnant teen, and the baby isn’t even yours, it adds an additional element of challenge, but Danae is exceptional even for a willing teen surrogate father because Danae Hudson was born female. Here are ten things you didn’t know about Danae Hudson.
1. Being Danae (MTV)
Most of the time, there’s plenty of drama on Teen Mom with just the stories of young women struggling to have and raise babies at such a young age. However, when Brianna Jaramillo and Danae Hudson started dating, they had extra drama to deal with beyond just having a baby so young. Fans love Danae, so MTV decided to give him a mini-special of his own called Being Danae. Having his top surgery was rough enough physically, but living your life on TV had to be tough for Danae.
2. Being a Dad
Fatherhood is rough. There’s so much to tackle, and not just for the baby. A pregnant spouse can be more than a little rough to deal with. You have to be kind and understand that hormones make people act erratically. Doing such adult activities is even more complicated when you’re a teenager. What most impresses us about Danae is that he was not only willing to step up at his age, but he did so for his girlfriend, who was having someone else’s baby.
3. Pronoun Problems
Teen fathers, especially those who have to do everything in front of a camera, have it tough enough. For Danae, being a trans-man came with some other issues. His mother wasn’t exactly supportive of his choice to be the person he always knew he is. She repeatedly refused to use the correct pronouns for him, insistently calling Danae ‘she’ and ‘her’ in front of friends and family. It wasn’t an accident either. Though the people around a transgender individual often struggle to remember to change up the pronouns at first, there’s a huge difference between an honest oopsie and not even trying. Danae had to confront his mom about it, more than once.
4. MIA
We don’t have a whole lot of details about what happened, but Danae went missing at one point. In late April of last year, Danae disappeared for a short while. The police put out a bulletin seeking him. Luckily he showed back up shortly after that, but people were anxious. Being a minor celebrity on top of everything means that you’re at a higher risk for kidnapping and other issues that most people don’t need to be so concerned about.
5. Not to be Mistaken for…
Danae is not alone. We’re not talking about his dating status or all the people who are showing love and support for this young trans-man. There’s another Danae Hudson out there. If you’re looking for more info on the teen-mom star, double-check your information every time because the other Danae is a blonde psychology professor who loves corgis. We’re all for promoting a good teacher, but don’t mistake these very different Danaes.
6. Body Dysmorphia
Danae, like many young people and many transgender people, suffers from body dysmorphia. He talked about his struggles on the show. Body dysmorphia is a psychological condition where the person focuses on some perceived (or actual) flaw in their appearance. Usually, it’s something other people don’t even see, but it bothers the sufferer so much that they suffer anxiety and may also avoid social situations. Being under the cameras while coping with a problem like BD is brave, and we admire him for being open about it.
7. Real World Struggles (Transgender)
Everyone has it rough sometimes. Certainly, the stars of a show like Teen Mom are signing up for additional issues dealing with fame. Being on TV makes you a target for trolls and haters in a way you wouldn’t usually have to handle. When you’re also LGBTQIA, it can make things even harder for you in real life. Meeting new people, you have to assume they either know about whatever you’ve revealed on TV, or they will soon enough. We’d never suggest that a trans individual needs to hide, but deciding when to reveal personal details and what to say isn’t even an option when you’re a reality TV star.
8. Real World Struggles (Male)
Transitioning from a female body to a male one isn’t just about becoming yourself; other things happen when you make a gender change. For example, an M to F transwoman (the opposite of Danae) has to deal with the fact that their new body comes with women’s issues like harassment and the very high chance that your income potential just went down by 30% because women are still paid only about 70% of what men make. Going the other direction might seem like an advantage, but as a black male, Danae has challenges well beyond his personal life. Media portrayals of black males will affect him for the rest of his life. Likewise, police are more likely to target him, and his chances of ending up in jail just went up substantially, without hem ever doing anything to deserve it.
9. On and Off
Sure, some people assume that being on TV is all glamour and the ‘reality’ is staged. In some cases, that’s precisely what’s going on, but not for the stars of Teen Mom. Their struggles may be edited, but they are real. For Danae and Brianna, one of those struggles was just making their relationship work. The couple dated on and off for about three years. As you might expect, it was during one of the ‘off’ periods when Brianna got pregnant. Ultimately things didn’t work out between the two, but we’re still glad Danae was a part of the show.
10. New Girlfriend
Moving on from the limelight seems to suit Danae. He’s also moved on from his Teen Mom ex Brianna. These days he’s dating a young woman named Sabrina, and they seem very happy. They’ve been there for each other during some tough times, like when he had his top surgery, and we’ll be rooting for them.
Final Thoughts
It takes guts to date a teen mom, especially when you’re not the father. It takes even more bravery to do that as a transgender because it means the whole world can google its way into your business. Even though his relationship didn’t work out with Brianna, we’re delighted to see him included in the show. Times are changing, and young people like the Teen Moms and Danae are helping to change the way people see those who have misunderstood and looked down on. We hope to hear more about him soon, and we’ll be looking forward to seeing what Danae does next.
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