[...] the only thing left exclusively for women is the child-bearing (maybe not, Thomas Beattie) and breastfeeding. Though on the latter? I’m sure some selfish dude’s going to come a [...]

My understanding is that Thomas stopped taking testosterone before getting pregnant. At first I thought it was a little odd they were having another child so soon, but if he had to stop taking the testosterone for each pregnancy and they wanted two children (or more, they may not be done having kids) it would make sense to have the kids close together. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has not taken any testosterone since before getting pregnant with their first child.

“Beatie is better known as “the pregnant man,” which isn’t quite accurate as far as I can tell. It does, however, make for a better headline.”
To call Thomas Beatie a man IS accurate. He identifies as male. Just because he has not had full gender reassignment surgery does not mean he is female. Mr. Beatie, like many transmen, has had what is referred to as “top” surgery (chest surgery), but not “bottom” surgery because the latter is incredibly expensive, and the results, as the surgery exists today, are not ideal (though many transmen do have the surgery and are happy with it).

As for the hormone question, the amount of testosterone that transmen take would not allow for the possibility of a healthy pregnancy, carried to term. Mr. Beatie has to have stopped the testosterone, or his pregnancies would not have made it full-term. A previous commenter pointed out that he explains the process in his book, which I haven’t read – I’m just going based on my own knowledge of transmen and pregnancy (Mr. Beatie is by no means the first or the only transman to become pregnant and give birth).

As a lesbian planning to get pregnant using donor sperm and artificial insemination, I am pretty open-minded about the different ways to create a family. What the Beatie family chose to do is not good or bad, it is just different. It is what worked for them. They obviously wanted children very much, and I’m sure their children will be loved and cared for. I think it’s a little odd that they seemed to head towards the spotlight so willingly, but if their story opened people’s eyes to the reality of transpeople parenting in a positive light, then that is a good thing.

Not a man. Men don’t give birth.

So if I can find a loophole in the system to identify myself as a cheetah and I can run really fast, am I a cheetah? This story is ridiculous. Calling a woman a man is ridiculous. A man did not and can not give birth. Woman can. End of stupid, time-wasting story.

@Brit, re: “To call Thomas Beatie a man IS accurate. He identifies as male.”
Can someone just decide to identify as a different gender, and that’s that? I know this is a larger topic, but I have to admit that I don’t really understand how that works.

kb41ok comment2 ,

Comments
And stop calling her a damn he!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why is this crazy heffer getting news coverage, UGH!!

These comments are revolting. There’s a difference between sex and gender. Gender is between your ears, sex is between your legs. At the moment there is no affordable female to male reassignment for the lower half, not to mention a functioning option, so this is as good as it gets for most transmen. Tell me ladies, when you close your eyes does your sense of being female disappear? Obviously it must, since you define being a man or a woman by being able to observe genitalia. As for the criticism of his wife (and yes, they are considered man and wife in a heterosexual marriage by both the state and us rational folks) she lost her uterus to a hysterectomy for health reasons. So congratulations, you’ve managed to spew hatred over a couple (who shouldn’t even be triggering this rash of homophobia, as they are a straight couple. At best a pansexual couple.) who made a decision to go through with a pregnancy, despite the implications it would have on the psyche of a transman for the benefit of building a loving family despite the wife’s infertility. These children are blessed to have such devoted and strong parents. And by the sounds of it, I’d kill for a husband willing to go through all the trouble he must have went through for the love of their kids.