Issue Number 1005 | Labor of Love | Advocate.com Labor of Love  |  | Advocate.com

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Labor of Love
Is society ready for this pregnant husband?
By Thomas Beatie
From The Advocate  April 8, 2008
Labor of Love

To our neighbors, my wife, Nancy, and I don’t appear in the least unusual. To those in the quiet Oregon community where we live, we are viewed just as we are -- a happy couple deeply in love. Our desire to work hard, buy our first home, and start a family was nothing out of the ordinary. That is, until we decided that I would carry our child.

I am transgender, legally male, and legally married to Nancy. Unlike those in same-sex marriages, domestic partnerships, or civil unions, Nancy and I are afforded the more than 1,100 federal rights of marriage. Sterilization is not a requirement for sex reassignment, so I decided to have chest reconstruction and testosterone therapy but kept my reproductive rights. Wanting to have a biological child is neither a male nor female desire, but a human desire.

Ten years ago, when Nancy and I became a couple, the idea of us having a child was more dream than plan. I always wanted to have children. However, due to severe endometriosis 20 years ago, Nancy had to undergo a hysterectomy and is unable to carry a child. But after the success of our custom screen-printing business and a move from Hawaii to the Pacific Northwest two years ago, the timing finally seemed right. I stopped taking my bimonthly testosterone injections. It had been roughly eight years since I had my last menstrual cycle, so this wasn’t a decision that I took lightly. My body regulated itself after about four months, and I didn’t have to take any exogenous estrogen, progesterone, or fertility drugs to aid my pregnancy.

Reader Comments

These comments are reproduced as written by visitors to this Web site. They have not been edited for content, grammar, or spelling. The viewpoints appearing here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or views of advocate.com, The Advocate, or its affiliates.

  • Name: BraveNewWorld
    Date posted: 2008-05-09 8:17 PM
    Hometown: London

    Comment:

    I think it's fantastic that two people who have shown so much love and commitment to each other have found the strength to create a family. They have been met with bias and rejection and have stood by their decision to create a family. I wish them all the best and would love to know how their girl develops in life. I can only hope that the insecurity and hate of all those opposed will not be directed at her.

  • Name: TaKayla
    Date posted: 2008-05-08 7:55 PM
    Hometown: M Town

    Comment:

    Well now it oughta be easy cuz in stead of having a lazy nasty mean good for nothing father your baby will have 2 mothers and i think every one else should mind there bussness congrades

  • Name: Linda Moore
    Date posted: 2008-05-08 10:32 AM
    Hometown: Panama City, FL

    Comment:

    But in all aspect, He is not really a he. He still has FEMALE reproductive organs. He doesnt have male organs. He didnt get the surgery done whatever. So I dont see how legally...he can be called a he. This pregnancy is all a publicity stunt. If they had really just been wanting children, it would have never blew up in th news the way it has. They would have went about their business and that would have been it. Good luck to the child...it will need all the help it can get.

  • Name: Angelica
    Date posted: 2008-05-07 11:52 PM
    Hometown: Irving

    Comment:

    You are not a man! you were not biologically born a man... You are a WOMAN that decided to change your appearance and act out the rest of your life as man, but this is not some historical event that is taking place. You re-nigged on your decision to be a man and I think had you had been born a hermaphrodite, with both sets of reproductive organs and became pregnant, this pregnancy would be more significant. You're decision to become pregnant simply indicates that you (and your wife) are not mentally stable. I understand your desire to have a biological child - but you are putting yourself in a situation that society is not ready to deal with.

  • Name: Kittie
    Date posted: 2008-05-07
    Hometown: Long Beach

    Comment:

    Even better still is the fact that if you had bothered to read on to the next page few pages it does give you the information you thought wasn't there. Nice to know you read the whole article before complaining about it.

  • Name: Shannon
    Date posted: 2008-05-07
    Hometown: Signal Hill

    Comment:

    Why do you have to have any more information. You want it, here it is...I did just a little research and found out that he was artificially inseminated. Are you happy now Mark Johns? Even though you have no right to any more information or details, if you truly wanted them you could have found them for yourself. This is a simple article with a very to the point message. A man that was once a woman is now pregnant. The how's and why's are not only not important, they are not your business. Besides that, if you couldn't figure out on your own that they did it artificially...I mean...how many ways are there for a transgender human being to have babies with a wife that is unable to carry one. It seems like a silly, and probing, question into the lives and inner workings of human beings you will never even know on a personal level. There was plenty of information, just because it didn't please your palette doesn't mean it 'wasn't enough'.

  • Name: mark johns
    Date posted: 2008-05-07
    Hometown: bangkok

    Comment:

    dont get it, how was the child concieved? who is the biological father? not enough information.

  • Name: Leslie Lucir
    Date posted: 2008-05-06
    Hometown: Eugene

    Comment:

    Congratultions to the happy couple! Parenting is the most difficult and wonderful thing you can do, and having the father carry the child will probably go along those same lines. Best wishes from a woman who acts as both father and mother.

  • Name: ernie einarson
    Date posted: 2008-05-05
    Hometown: bie

    Comment:

    there are so many people that have a problem with what Thomas Beatie is doing. i myself see nothing wrong. here is a PERSON who has the capability to have a child in the place of HIS wife. if it was at all possible, my wife and i discussed this, i would carry our child if we could get pregnant. as long as the child is healthy that is all that matters.

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