Pregnant Man Had Given Birth
Thomas Beatie, the pregnant man in Oregon had already given birth to a healthy baby girl last week. Even if he/she is the biological mother of the child, Thomas would still be registered as the baby’s father in her birth certificate.
Although the world (and myself) are still shocked with this one of a kind story of the pregnant man and whether it is morally right or not, still we cannot deny Thomas and Nancy the chance to have their own family.
Born Tracy La Gondino is half Filipino. He had a sex change operation several years ago, but decided to keep her female reproductive organs. She/He was a former Miss Hawaii Teen USA finalist. In an interview, Tracy said she had always felt male however, so while in her 20s, she began taking testosterone with the help of a physician.
Tracy fell in love with another woman, Nancy Roberts, in Hawaii and they desired to be married, strictly against even Hawaii’s liberal laws. So, Tracy decided she should obtain a sex change because Hawaii’s laws did not support same sex marriage. She underwent a double radical mastectomy and began hormone therapy to change her gender to that of a male, but keeping her female reproductive organs. Two years ago, she and Nancy moved to Bend, Oregon.
Thomas and Nancy have been married for five years, and have been trying to have children for two years, but Nancy is unable to bear children due to endometriosis. Tracy, now renamed Thomas, ceased the hormone therapy to allow her menstrual flow to return. Tracy/Thomas said it took about 4 months for her body to regulate itself.
Consulting doctors, one who sent her to see a Psychologist to see if we were fit to bring a child into this world, she and Nancy finally obtained access to a cryogenic sperm bank to purchase anonymous donor vials and opted for home insemination, feeling that doctors who refused to help them due to their own ethical or religious views discriminated against the couple.
Last month, Beatie wrote an article about his pregnancy for The Advocate, in which he was pictured topless with a swollen belly. The article shocked many around the world and triggered heated discussion among ethicists and family groups.
Beatie defended his actions in Oprah saying, it’s a human desire. And I’m a person, and I have the right to have my own biological child.
