LOS ANGELES (AFP) - - A US man who was born a woman before
undergoing gender realignment surgery has given birth to a baby
girl, US media reported.
Thomas Beatie, who is legally male but decided to keep his
female sex organs during chest reconstruction surgery and
testosterone therapy, attracted worldwide attention in April after
revealing his pregnancy.
The 34-year-old gave birth to a baby girl at a hospital in Bend,
Oregon, on June 29, People Magazine reported Thursday.
"The only thing different about me is that I can't breastfeed my
baby. But a lot of mothers don't," the magazine quoted him as
saying.
It said the girl is Beatie's first child, and he had given birth
naturally, not by Caesarean section.
Beatie, who sports a beard, was dubbed the 'pregnant man' after
appearing on Oprah Winfrey's television talkshow to discuss his
pregnancy.
"I feel it's not a male or female desire to have a child. It's a
human need. I'm a person and I have the right to have a biological
child," he told the chat show queen.
Beatie's unusual situation first became public when he wrote an
article in the leading US gay magazine The Advocate in March,
entitled "Labor of Love."
"To our neighbors, my wife, Nancy, and I don't appear in the
least unusual," he wrote, explaining that his wife was unable to
have a child after undergoing a hysterectomy.
So he chose to become pregnant by artificial insemination, he
said.
"Our situation sparks legal, political, and social unknowns,"
Beatie wrote, adding the couple had experienced opposition from
health care professionals, friends and family.
One doctor refused to treat the couple, after consulting an
ethics board.
"How does it feel to be a pregnant man? Incredible. 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," Beatie wrote