More inclusive emojis may be coming to future software updates, including one of a pregnant man.
A “pregnant man” and non-binary “pregnant person” emoji may soon be available for use, according to a blog post from Emojipedia, the emoji reference website and voting member in the Unicode Consortium.
While the consortium will formally approve in September which emojis will hit operating systems, apps and devices, Emojipedia often puts them together into a single image for people to visualize. The approved emoji will roll out across various platforms mostly next year.
The Unicode 14.0 version finalist list includes a gender-inclusive alternative to the existing emojis for princess and prince, the ability to choose from 15 different handshake skin tone combinations, and a pregnant man and pregnant person, recognizing how pregnancy is possible among some transgender men and non-binary people.
In a fan-voted poll for the most anticipated of the draft emoji, the winner was Melting Face, which shows a yellow smiley face pooling in mid-melt. Melting Face was at No. 1 with 13.7 percent of the vote, and Pregnant Man came in sixth with 5.3 percent of the vote.
In more recent years, the consortium added a woman with a beard, a transgender flag and over 200 mixed-skin-tone options for couples to its standards.
Although Emojipedia often creates interpretations of how some of the emoji may look, the official designs are decided by and vary by platform or service. That means an emoji can look very different on iOS and Android devices.
