Man pregnant

Thomas Beatie, is a married man from the US state of Oregon, who used to be a woman before having gender reassignment surgery, is now five months pregnant with a baby girl, due in July.

Mr Beatie wrote an article in The Advocate, saying it feels "incredible" to be a "pregnant man". He also added: "Despite the fact that my belly is growing with a new life inside me, I am stable and confident being the man that I am."

Born Tracy Lagondino, Mr Beatie has a chest reconstruction and testosterone therapy but kept his female organs when he changed genders.

"Sterilisation is not a requirement for sex reassignment, so I decided to have chest reconstruction and testosterone therapy but kept my reproductive rights," he said. "Wanting to have a biological child is neither a male nor female desire but a human desire."

He utilised home insemination after claiming to experience discrimination from doctors.

"Doctors have discriminated against us, turning us away due to their religious beliefs," Mr Beatie explained in the article.

"Healthcare professionals have refused to call me by a male pronoun or recognise Nancy as my wife. Receptionists have laughed at us. Friends and family have been unsupportive; most of Nancy's family doesn't even know I'm transgender," he added.

Mr Beatie says he is carrying a child on behalf of his wife, Nancy, because she has had a hysterectomy. The couple, who have been together for 10 years and manage a custom screen-printing business in the town of Bend, lived a normal life "until we decided that I would carry our child," Mr Beatie wrote.

This is not the first time the couple has tried to get pregnant, either. A previous insemination ended in a life-threatening ectopic pregnancy with triplets that required surgery and resulted in the loss of all embryos and Mr Beatie’s right fallopian tube.

"I will be my daughter's father, and Nancy will be her mother. We will be a family," Mr Beatie wrote. Sources report that The Advocate has confirmed with Mr Beatie's doctors that he is indeed pregnant.

Tags: man pregnant, transgender