In case you’ve been off the planet for a while, there’s a man in Bend, Ore. named Thomas Beatie who is pregnant. This man was actually born a woman but he underwent transgender surgery and later legally married a woman.
The couple decided they wanted to have a kid, but the woman had a hysterectomy a decade ago. Determined to have the biological child he always dreamed of, the man stepped up to the plate and put his still-intact uterus to use.
Beatie and his wife obtained sperm, home inseminated and are expecting a baby girl around July 3. (They had a prior triplet pregnancy that was ectopic.)
Beatie first reported his story to The Advocate, but later went on Oprah and talked to People magazine as well as a ton of other periodicals. Doctors agree that most likely, Beatie is not the first transgender man to get pregnant, but he is the first one to mainline it to the media.
Beatie and his wife have experienced a lot of negative feedback from doctors, friends and family members, and for the record, I do not think this is fair. I support alternative families of all kinds. (Plus, I love the idea of the husband getting knocked up. Believe me, I would have given my ice cream stash to trade places with my husband during my pregnancy.)
However, I think this guy is exploiting himself for the sake of publicity and to make money. I get the feeling he would love to get his own reality TV show, and this bothers me. I think a media blitz is the last thing this family -- and child -- need for a "normal" life.
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
