The Pregnant Man

It was recently announced in the media that a 34 year old "transgender male" is 22 weeks pregnant with a baby. Thomas Beatie's story appeared in the April edition of The Advocate a Los Angeles-based newsmagazine for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgendered people with a picture of him sporting a pregnant belly and man's flat chest.

According to Mr. Beatie, he and his wife Nancy, had wanted to have children but due to a medical condition years ago, a hysterectomy was performed on Nancy she was unable to get pregnant and carry a child.

The story say's that initially, Thomas Beatie was born a woman and decided to become a man. He started taking testosterone and had surgery to remove his breasts, but decided to keep his female reproductive organs. Thomas stopped his hormone treatments and just over a year later became pregnant with their first child. The child is reportedly due in July of this year.

Thomas is legally a man, and this has sparked all kinds of ethical issues. Ethicist Margaret Sommerville, says this speaks to the breakdown of the biologically natural family, which started with same-sex marriage.

There are also many rumors out there that are claiming this to be a hoax. But his gyncecologist tells the Advocate that the picture was indeed Thomas Beatie.

British physician and fertility pioneer Robert Winston, claims it may be possible to induce and ectopic pregnancy surgically in a man. He speculates that an embryo could be implanted in the man's abdomen, with the placenta attached to an internal organ, and birth would be by cesarean section. Other experts express great concern over the safety of this procedure.

As a firm believer in letting people live their lives how they choose, an advocate for human rights for all, gay, ethnics or otherwise I don't agree with male pregnancy. I don't believe in disrupting the human biology for non-life threatening cases.

In this case the pregnant "man" is biologically a woman so technically speaking has all the same internal organs as the average woman. Which makes this an odd situation for sure, but not something new or innovative.