US ‘pregnant man’ has baby girl July 4, 2008

An American man who was born female but underwent gender realignment has given birth to a female baby, US media have reported.

Mr Beatie said it had been his dream to one day have a child

Thomas Beatie, 34, is legally male but kept his female reproductive organs after having breast surgery to remove glands and flatten his chest.

Both Mr Beatie and his daughter are reported to be doing well in a hospital in Bend, Oregon.

He was inseminated using sperm from an anonymous donor.

The birth was natural, a source at St Charles Medical Center in Bend told ABC News, and took place on Sunday.

According to some reports, Mr Beatie had had a Caesarean section.

Former model

Mr Beatie, who sports a wispy beard, made headlines around the world when he revealed in April that he was pregnant.

He told chat show host Oprah Winfrey it had been his dream to one day have a child.

“I opted not to do anything with my reproductive organs because I wanted to have a child one day,” he said.

Mr Beatie grew up in Hawaii as Tracy Lagondin and was a Girl Scout, model and finalist in a teenage beauty pageant.

He began to live as a man when he was in his 20s and officially changed his gender, he told People magazine.

He has been married for five years to wife Nancy.

Mr Beatie’s obstetrician, Dr Kimberly James, told Oprah Winfrey in April: “This baby is totally healthy. This is what I consider a normal pregnancy.”

First TV Interview: The Pregnant Man April 12, 2008

Pregnant man ‘lost triplets’ April 2, 2008

THE pregnant man has told of his heartache at losing TRIPLETS before he conceived again.

Thomas Beatie, who is due to give birth to a girl on July 3, survived the ectopic pregnancy – but lost the tots and his right Fallopian tube.

The transsexual, 34, who kept his female reproductive organs after a sex change, said: “It was a life-threatening event that required surgical intervention.”

Despite the heartbreak, Thomas and wife Nancy, 45 – who can’t have kids after a hysterectomy – got no sympathy from his family.

He added: “When my brother found out about my loss, he said, ‘It’s a good thing that happened. Who knows what kind of monster it would have been’.”

The American couple, of Bend, Oregon, decided to try again – but Thomas had to inseminate himself at HOME with semen from a sperm bank after nine doctors refused to carry out the procedure on a man with a beard.

He added: “Doctors have discriminated against us, turning us away due to their religious beliefs.

“They refused to call me by a male pronoun or recognise Nancy as my wife.

“And receptionists have laughed at us.

“This whole process, from trying to get pregnant to being pregnant, has been a challenge.”

Thomas, who used to be lesbian Tracy LaGondino when living in Hawaii, was last night in hiding with Nancy after recording an interview with TV chatshow host Oprah Winfrey.

The show airs in the US on Thursday

Pregnant man on Oprah April 2, 2008

PREGNANT man Thomas Beatie will appear on Oprah Winfrey’s TV show tomorrow.

Transsexual Thomas, 34, shocked the world when a picture was released showing his bearded face and growing belly.

The Hawaiian ex-lesbian kept his female reproductive organs and is nearly six months pregnant.

In clips from the show, which will be aired tomorrow, Thomas says: “I’m a person and I have the right to have my own biological child.”

The amazing revelations have been questioned by sceptics, but the Chicago-based talk show said Oprah had interviewed Thomas, his wife Nancy, their doctor and pals of the pair.

According to the clips from the show, Nancy tells how a hysterectomy left her unable to conceive.

Thomas said: “If Nancy could get pregnant, I wouldn’t be doing this.”

When he switched gender, Thomas had his breasts removed and began taking testosterone in a bid to grow facial hair.

But after keeping his female reproductive organs, Thomas fell pregnant through artificial insemination.

He expects to deliver a girl around July 3.

In an interview with an American magazine, he wrote: “Wanting to have a biological child is neither a male nor female desire, but a human desire.”

Pregnant man on Oprah April 2, 2008

PREGNANT man Thomas Beatie will appear on Oprah Winfrey’s TV show tomorrow.

Transsexual Thomas, 34, shocked the world when a picture was released showing his bearded face and growing belly.

The Hawaiian ex-lesbian kept his female reproductive organs and is nearly six months pregnant.

In clips from the show, which will be aired tomorrow, Thomas says: “I’m a person and I have the right to have my own biological child.”

The amazing revelations have been questioned by sceptics, but the Chicago-based talk show said Oprah had interviewed Thomas, his wife Nancy, their doctor and pals of the pair.

According to the clips from the show, Nancy tells how a hysterectomy left her unable to conceive.

Thomas said: “If Nancy could get pregnant, I wouldn’t be doing this.”

When he switched gender, Thomas had his breasts removed and began taking testosterone in a bid to grow facial hair.

But after keeping his female reproductive organs, Thomas fell pregnant through artificial insemination.

He expects to deliver a girl around July 3.

In an interview with an American magazine, he wrote: “Wanting to have a biological child is neither a male nor female desire, but a human desire.”

Transgender Man Says He’s Pregnant March 26, 2008

A transgender man from Oregon says he is five months pregnant, according to gay rights magazine The Advocate.

 

Stunning photos of what appears to be a pregnant Thomas Beatie accompany the first-person article on the publication’s Web site.

“Our situation sparks legal, political and social unknowns,” wrote Beatie, who’s from Bend, Ore.

Beatie, who was born a woman named Tracy Lagondino, had reassignment surgery to appear as a man outwardly, but he never surgically altered his reproductive organs, he said in the article. He only had chest reconstruction and began taking testosterone, Beatie said, meaning he still has ovaries and a uterus.

Now Beatie, who said he was able to get pregnant using artificial insemination, is expecting a baby girl with his wife, Nancy. He said he was 22 weeks along. The baby is due July 3.

But Beatie’s case, while uncommon, is not unique. Another transgender man has given birth before, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center obstetrician Dr. Lisa Masterson said on “Good Morning America” today.

“A transgender man can be pregnant because he has the same organs as a woman,” she said, adding that Beatie should have no problem having a baby.

But Masterson said there are some health risks with this kind of pregnancy.

“It’s really important that he doesn’t take any testosterone early on in the pregnancy and later on,” she said. “That can cause male-type characteristics in the female baby.”

Usually, transgender men use testosterone to gain more masculine qualities. The article said he stopped getting injections and was able to get pregnant.

Beatie also addressed some burning, practical questions people may have.

“To Nancy, I am her husband carrying our child,” he wrote, explaning that his wife is unable to conceive. “I will be my daughter’s father, and Nancy will be her mother. We will be a family.”

But not everyone believes Beatie’s story. Some of his neighbors expressed indredulity.

“Quite frankly, I think it’s a hoax,” Beatie’s neighbor Ron Schlieper said. “I saw him a few days ago, and he didn’t look like that.”

Another Bend resident, Josh Love, said, “I couldn’t say that he looks pregnant. I can stick my stomach out and almost make it look like that. I think it’s kind of bizarre. I don’t know if I believe it or not.”

But The Advocate, which posted the story in its online edition, said it stands by its story even though so far the couple has refused to talk to other media.

“We asked Thomas to provide the name of his doctor, and she confirmed that he was pregnant and that his pregnancy is proceeding as it should,” Advocate editor in chief Anne Stockwell said.