We welcome you to take a journey through the extraordinary pregnancy of Thomas Beatie, the transgender pregnant man who became famous in 2007 when he got pregnant through artificial insemination with cryogenic donated sperm.
Thomas Trace Beatie was born on January 20, 1974. He was born a girl; his birth name was Tracy Lehuanani LaGondino. Beatie is an author, public speaker and an advocate for transgender and sexuality issues who specializes in reproductive and trans-fertility rights.
The famous pregnant man is actually a trans man. In 2002 he had gender reassignment surgery and became famous as ‘The Pregnant Man’. Beatie decided to become pregnant as his wife Nancy was infertile. The first pregnancy of Beatie resulted in an ectopic pregnancy of triplets, which required emergency surgery and resulted in loss of all 3 fetuses. Since then, Beatie has given birth to 3 children.
On February 5, 2003 Beatie married Nancy Gillespie in Hawaii, in a legally applicable opposite-sex marriage. In 2005 they moved to Bend (Oregon), filed joint federal and state taxes and bought a home together as a couple. Beatie was listed as “male” on his life and health insurance policies. From 2008 to 2010 he gave birth to all 3 of his children as a pregnant man.
In 2012 Beatie and his wife filed for divorce. Beatie’s “Pregnant Man” case is the first of its kind ever, where a documented legal man within a traditional marriage to a woman, gave birth, and a court challenged a marriage for the first time, where the husband gave birth.
Beatie was born and brought up in Honolulu (Hawaii); he’s the first of 2 children. His mother is from San Francisco, and of Scottish, English, Irish, and Welsh descent. His father is of Filipino and Korean descent. Beatie was a female model as a teenager; he was also a pageant finalist of Miss Teen Hawaii USA. He regularly appeared on the nationwide televised aerobics workout video series and Basic Training with Ada Janklowicz, soon after that he became a competitive bodybuilder.
At the age of 10, Beatie started to identify himself with the male gender. By the time he turned 23, he started with testosterone hormone treatment to transition into a man. Beatie underwent sex reassignment surgery in March 2002. The surgery involved a double mastectomy, areolar grafting & reshaping, and contouring of chest to give a male appearance.
Beatie wanted to have biological children and since sterilization isn’t a prerequisite to undergo a legitimate sex change in the United States, he decided to keep his internal reproductive organs as it is. Before getting married, he formally changed his name by Hawaii’s Office of the Lieutenant Governor. Later went through the process of name and sex marker change from female to male on all of his federal and state documents, including the birth certificate, passport, driver’s license, and social security number.
Beatie wrote his first book named Labor of Love: The Story of One Man’s Extraordinary Pregnancy in 2008. In Labor of Love, he talks about his fight for his right to have a baby. His book is an emotional and sincere memoir, rich in humor, drama and suspense. But, at its core, it is just a love story—of the dubious romance between him and Nancy; of their difficult and long journey to get married; of the tough times they faced to find a doctor who’d help him carry his child; and of the incredible and blissful birth of his daughter, Susan.
His book challenges readers to reassess what actually makes a man a man, what is the true meaning of parenthood, and at last what’s more valuable than anything else—the unconditional love of a family.
“The Pregnant Man,” and his dreams of liberty, happiness and family are heart touching. The humanizing story of Thomas Beatie is a representation of the struggles faced by many, while fighting for their individual legitimacy and liberty in addition to legal and social justice. More notably, people are motivated by this proud father’s determination and grit – and the fact that he stood up for what he believed in and not to forget – the love for his children.
Beatie believes that if you want to create a positive change in this society you need to have the power of visibility. By being open and visible, he hopes one can demystify the destructive stereotypes and prove that different can also be normal.
