Pregnant Man to Give Birth in Oregon
Was watching our local news tonight and they ran a story about this:
Another Oregon First? Pregnant Man to Give Birth in Bend, Ore.
March 24th 2008 2:01pm
BY: Byron Beck
Saturday morning was a real eye-opener.
As I was getting the car's oil changed, I stumbled upon a story that blew my mind.
In the latest issue of The Advocate , the equivalent of Time magazine for queers, I read the first-hand account of Thomas Beatie, who...(wait for it).... is about to have a BABY!
Yes, a man is going to have a baby. Well, it's not that easy.
Thomas Beatie is a transgendered man. And he is a man. He's legally changed his official paperwork to reflect that.
On top of that, he's married to a woman.
Here is what he said in The Advocate's First Person column:
I am transgender, legally male, and legally married to Nancy. Unlike those in same-sex marriages, domestic partnerships, or civil unions, Nancy and I are afforded the more than 1,100 federal rights of marriage. Sterilization 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.
When the couple, who run a screen-printing business—called, of course, Define Normal—in the Central Oregon city of Bend, found out Nancy couldn't have a baby, Thomas decided to step in and take care of the job (with the help of cryogenically preserved donor sperm). Their daughter is expected in July.
And, right now, the gender shift has hit the fan. "It's a very touchy thing, this deconstruction of our biological reality," McGill University ethicist Margaret Somerville told the Canadian newspaper The National Post. "I think we're just playing with fire."
This is sure to be a major news story in the annals of reproductive rights and gender identity, and it looks like Oregon is again pioneering uncharted territory. We'll keep you updated as the story—along with the baby—develops.
http://wweek.com/wwire/?p=11312
http://advocate.com/issue_story.asp?id=52664&page=1
I thought this must be a prank when I saw it on the news. Then I read the whole story. I'm sure we'll be hearing more about this one...
