Trans Olympian Hergie Bacyadan and Wife Lady Denily Digo Announce Pregnancy
In an exclusive interview, Preview Pride 2025 cover stars Lady and Hergie have revealed that they're expecting their first child after a lengthy IVF journey.
Published on Nov 27, 2025
When Lady Denily Digo shared that she is expecting her first child with husband Hergie Bacyadan, it marked a deeply personal milestone for the couple. Lady, a content creator and entrepreneur, and Hergie, a trans boxer and 2024 Paris Olympian, have long been open about their love, their advocacy, and their hopes of building a family. The two also appeared together on Preview’s June 2025 Pride cover on marriage equality.
Now, after a lengthy IVF process with its own challenges, they move forward with the next step in parenthood. In this exclusive Preview interview, Lady speaks candidly about the journey that brought them here, and the message she hopes it sends about LGBTQIA+ families.
Lady Denily Digo and Hergie Bacyadan’s IVF Journey
Lady and Hergie started their IVF journey in 2023, a year marked by logistical hurdles, medical delays, and the challenge of finding a clinic willing to assist an LGBTQIA+ couple.
“Many clinics here in the Philippines only accommodate married heterosexual couples,” she shares. Though legally married in the US, the couple’s union is not recognized locally. Eventually, they found a welcoming space in IVF Asia Group in Makati.
The process stretched longer than expected. Hergie was frequently abroad training to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics. When Lady’s turn came, she encountered medical issues that pushed their timeline yet again.
By December 2025, they had harvested 29 eggs, which became five embryos—only one strong enough to recommend for implantation. “We felt hopeless,” she recalls. “We knew that most first-time IVF attempts fail.”
After an anxious two-week wait following her September 6 implant date, Lady watched as a faint second line slowly appeared on the pregnancy test.
“It felt like forever, staring at that test, praying for a miracle,” she says. “When we saw the positive result, I froze. I felt an overwhelming sense of relief. We cried together, filled with joy and gratitude. In my heart, all I could do was thank God.”
On Healing After an Adoption
Long before IVF, Lady had already experienced parenthood through adoption. However, she eventually lost custody, which she recalls was deeply painful. “When he was taken away, it destroyed me. It was the kind of pain that makes you feel like your life has ended,” she shares. “I truly thought my motherhood journey ended there.”
For a long time, she didn’t see herself trying again. “I told myself I would never try again, because I never wanted to feel that kind of heartbreak a second time,” she recalls.
What gradually helped her move forward was the support she found in her relationship with Hergie. According to Lady, he didn’t rush her healing or dismiss the grief. “He never pushed me. He never minimized my pain,” Lady says. “He allowed me to cry, to grieve, and to break down.”
When she felt like parenthood was no longer possible, he reminded her otherwise. “He promised me, with so much sincerity, that one day I would have my own child, a child no one could take away from me again.”
On Hergie and Lady’s Relationship During IVF
The IVF process challenged both Lady and Hergie in practical and emotional ways. “IVF really tests relationships,” Lady says, noting how months of hormone injections left her irritable and easily overwhelmed. During those stretches, she often found small acts of support waiting for her—meals prepared, medicines laid out, and tasks handled quietly in the background.
For her, one of the most grounding parts of the experience was feeling understood without having to explain everything she was going through. The daily injections became a routine they handled together, even if the process was physically demanding. “Imagine a boxer, with fists trained for punching, injecting you with a needle,” she says. “No matter how gently he tried, his hands were still heavy.”
Eventually, both stepped back from their respective careers to focus fully on the treatment and on maintaining a stable environment during the most demanding phases. In working through the logistical and emotional weight of IVF, Lady saw how their dynamic evolved.
On LGBTQIA+ Families
Lady sees her pregnancy announcement as both a personal moment and an opportunity to highlight the challenges LGBTQIA+ families often confront in building a family. She stresses that her story isn’t a model to follow, as it’s just one version of what’s possible.
She’s also realistic about the road ahead for many queer couples: IVF remains costly, adoption still lacks essential protections, and the path is often uneven. However, she stresses that hope is something that can be formed and rebuilt. “If someone like me, who once felt broken and defeated, can receive this miracle, then they can too,” she shares. “You are worthy of a family. You are allowed to hope.”
As the couple prepares for the arrival of their baby, they’re thinking critically about the kind of environment they want to create.
“We will raise our child with so much love, truth, and security that the opinions of others will lose their power,” Lady states.
Kindness, resilience, and faith anchor the list of values she hopes to teach. According to Lady, she wants her child to grow up with a clear sense of honesty and without fear of how others might view their family. “Our family may look different,” she adds, “but our home will be built on honesty and strength.”
“We will help them understand that some people may not fully understand our story, but that does not make our family any less real or any less valid,” Lady says. “We will raise them to stand tall, to speak kindly, and to protect their heart without apologizing for who they are or who their parents are.”
Kat is Preview's Lifestyle Editor, explorer, and occasional rhymer. When not globe-trotting, she's over her computer, writing her next big novel.