Thomas Beatie, the world's first
transgender man to give birth, says he is pregnant with his second
child, reports the ABC newsmagazine 20/20.
In a new Barbara Walters special aired
on Friday, Beatie announced he was pregnant again and introduced the
world to his daughter, Susan. Beatie and his wife Nancy also said
they were very concerned about their daughter's birth certificate.
Susan, who was conceived through
artificial insemination, was born in an Oregon hospital on June 29.
Thomas Beatie had sex reassignment
surgery in 2002, but opted to retained his reproductive sexual
organs. He then legally changed his birth certificate from Tracy to
Thomas and married Nancy, a mother of two divorcee, in 2003. The
couple decided he should get pregnant after learning that Nancy was
unable to bear another child due to a hysterectomy. After nine
doctors refused to participate in the pregnancy of a transgender man,
the Beaties resorted to a home procedure of sperm purchased on the
Internet delivered through a syringe.
The Beaties say they are very concerned
about their daughter's birth certificate which they believe is flawed
because it lists the couple with the gender-neutral term “parent,”
a common designation used on the birth certificates of children of
gay and lesbian couples. Except the Beaties challenge the notion
that they are anything but a heterosexual couple.
“In essence, they are invalidating
our marriage,” Thomas Beatie told Barbara Walters. “It is very
upsetting to me. I feel that it's a flawed document.”
While the Beaties have been advised to
have Nancy Beatie adopt Susan, they say there is no reason why a
married heterosexual couple should have to resort to such legal
maneuvers.
“We shouldn't have to adopt our own
daughter,” Thomas Beatie said.
In addition to the Walters prime-time
special, a book and documentary are also in the offing. Thomas
Beatie's own memoir Labor of Love: The Story of One Man's
Extraordinary Pregnancy arrived last week. And next week
Discovery Health Channel is set to air a documentary on the subject
titled Pregnant Man by
UK-based Sundance Films.