American man six months pregnant with a baby gi

[Aliya]

Cripes!

**********************8

An image of Thomas Beatie, published in Advocate magazine, where he wrote of his trials as a pregnant man
In a real-life echo of the 1994 Arnold Schwarzenegger film Junior, a man is six months pregnant with a baby girl.

But the pregnancy of Thomas Beatie is far from being a comedy.

Beatie, who was originally born a woman and is now legally married to a woman, says in an article in the gay magazine The Advocate that he started sex reassignment 10 years ago.

However rather than have the complete surgery and become a man, he decided to only undergo breast surgery and testosterone treatment - meaning that although legally he is a man, he retained his "reproductive rights".

His wife, Nancy, cannot have children following a hysterectomy 20 years ago, so two years ago, when they decided to start a family, they decided he would carry the baby.

His story has caused a sensation in the United States, with doctors and ethicists weighing in with opinions.

The Beaties, who live in Bend, Oregon, and run a silk-screen printing company called Define Normal, say they are just an ordinary married couple and everyone treated them as such until new of his pregnancy broke.

In his first-person article Beatie wrote: "I am transgender, legally male and legally married to Nancy.

"Sterilisation is not a requirement for sex reassignment, so I decided to have chest reconstruction and testosterone therapy but kept my reproductive rights.

"Wanting to have a biological child is neither a male nor female desire, but a human desire."

He said he stopped taking testosterone injections two years ago and his periods started after four months.

But he said the couple faced hostility from reproductive doctors when they sought help with artificial insemination.

He saw a total of nine doctors over the course of a year before he got access to a sperm bank, bought anonymous donor sperm and opted for home insemination.

He quickly became pregnant with triplets but lost them because of an ectopic pregnancy.

Beatie recalled: "When my brother found out about my loss he said, 'It's a good thing that happened. Who knows what kind of monster it would have been.'

"On successfully getting pregnant a second time, we are proud to announce that this pregnancy is free of complications and our baby girl has a clean bill of health.

"We are happily awaiting her birth, with an estimated due date of July 3, 2008."

He admits there have been problems, saying: "Our situation sparks legal, political and social unknowns. Doctors have discriminated against us, turning us away due to their religious beliefs.

"Receptionists have laughed at us. Friends and family have been unsupportive."

But he went on: "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.

"To Nancy, I am her husband and carrying our child. I will be my daughter's father and Nancy will be her mother. We will be a family."

Canada's National Post said an editorial assistant with The Advocate confirmed it had verified the pregnancy with Mr Beatie's gynaecologist. She added that the photograph of the pregnant man was Mr Beatie.

Doctors say the story is unusual but possible.

"Biologically, that all sounds plausible," said Dr Mark Nichols, professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at Oregon Health and Science University.

"The definition of family has changed a lot. There's not a set definition anymore."

But ethicist Margaret Somerville of the McGill Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law in Montreal, Canada, said: "It's a very touchy thing, this deconstruction of our biological reality.

"Where I would do a reversal on this is to say, 'You've artificially made yourself a man.

"You're not a man, you're a woman and you're having a baby and you're actually having your own baby.'"

Neal Broverman, associate editor of The Advocate, which published a photograph showing Beatie five months pregnant, said the magazine confirmed the pregnancy with his doctor.

[Burbage]

But you can't have babies Stan.
Don't you oppress me!
I'm not oppressing you Stan, it's just a matter of biology. You haven't got a womb. Where's the baby going to gestate? You going to keep it in a box?

[Possum]

He/She was/is a woman so its not really a man pregnant. The man was the one with the sperm....

[Bender]

in what way is this interesting?