La Uchulú, a 25-year-old Peruvian content creator, set off a wave of reaction on social media after posting photographs of herself with what appeared to be a pregnant belly, accompanied only by the caption "En la dulce espera," Spanish for "expecting."
The post included two photographs. In one, a man believed to be her partner, the influencer known as Shamuko, kisses her belly while she reacts with visible emotion. In the other, she poses alone, showing an expression of excitement, with the pregnancy announcement as the only accompanying message.
A rare serious post from a comedy creator
La Uchulú is one of Peru's most popular content creators, known for comedic videos rooted in her background from the country's Amazon jungle region. For this post, she set aside her usual humorous style in favor of what read as a serious announcement, catching many of her followers off guard.
The post also drew attention because of La Uchulú's own recent history. She underwent gender reassignment surgery two years ago in Thailand, documenting each stage of the process on Instagram as she worked toward completing her transition.
Followers react, then learn it was a joke
The post quickly went viral. Many followers congratulated her on the apparent pregnancy, while others treated the photographs as a joke from the start and responded with heavy-handed comments of their own. Some claimed the images had been produced using artificial intelligence.
La Uchulú, a former cast member of the Peruvian television comedy program El Reventonazo de la Chola, a long-running sketch show, denied that the photos were AI-generated. She revealed that the pregnancy belly had been staged as a prank, made simply by tucking a cloth inside her dress.
Legal process to change her name and sex on her ID
In July 2026, La Uchulú began a legal process to change her sex and name on her DNI, Peru's national identity document. Peru has no administrative procedure for changing the sex marker on identity documents, so such requests must go through the courts. Accompanied by her lawyer, she presented her case at first instance before the Superior Court of Justice of Ucayali, the regional court for Ucayali, a region in Peru's Amazon rainforest.
During the proceedings, she revealed that her new legal name will be Etza Reátegui Wong. She said she hopes the court rules in her favor so she can continue moving forward with the goals tied to her transition.
