'Pregnant Man' Thomas Beatie Debuts Baby Pictures, Shares Birth Story

It's been three weeks since his blue-eyed baby debuted in this world, but Thomas Beatie - better known around the world as the Pregnant Man - can already say this about his daughter's personality: "She's easygoing and mellow and intelligent."

On June 29 at 8:55 p.m., Beatie, 34, a former female beauty pageant contestant, made cultural history as perhaps the first legally transgender male to give birth, bringing into the world a 9 lbs., 5 oz. baby girl named Susan Juliette.

"She's so precious, I just can't stop staring at her," Thomas tells PEOPLE in his first interview since he and wife Nancy returned with their bundle from Bend, Oregon's St. Charles Medical Center. "Just holding her is the best feeling in the world."

Susan - named after Thomas's mother and conceived through artificial insemination with donor sperm - arrived after 40 hours of labor, with Nancy at Thomas's side acting as his coach.

"When Susan finally came out, it was like in slow motion," says Thomas. "I was full of wonder." Echoes Nancy: "There were tears of joy."

Both father and daughter came through the birth in perfect health. "I weigh two pounds less than I did before I got pregnant," adds Thomas. "And I don't have a single stretch mark!"

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Comments

[rbryanh]

Where are all these right-thinking Earthlings and their frantic concern for the health of the (apparently quite healthy) baby when heterosexual couples use fertility drugs to throw an entire litter, force feed them into obesity, and vote for fascists from states where tobacco is regarded as a vegetable?

Stop using the protection of children to rationalize your ludicrous self-involved shame, your pathetic gender phobia, and your righteous hatred of anyone different from your sorry, intellectually and emotionally crippled self.

And, oh... Congratulations to Mr. Beatie, his wife, and their daughter. Welcome to the world, baby girl. Maybe by the time you're old enough to care, some of the idiots who're pissing themselves in terror of your father will have gone the way of the dinosaurs.

[AzRealProgressive]

Nice rant. Meaningless content. Rhetoric, ideology and dogmatic ideals flowing to the top. Gender phobia is a meaningless word. Note how the rant against others begins, and congratulations to the new whomever is last as an afterthought.

See what happens if you have a different opinion?

[barbwiregrrl]

And what exactly is your opinion? That a man is defined by his genatalia?

[MrsGreebers]

The purpose of fertility drugs is not to "throw a litter"... the majority of women who use this technology and successfully conceive end up with ONE baby at a time. For example, a successful IVF pregnancy has about a 25% of producing a twin pregnancy (and often one fails to develop) and a much smaller chance of higher-order multiples (though certainly much higher than chance). Many women who discover themselves pregnant with three or more quietly do selective reduction, it's just "Jon and Kate plus 8" who grab the headlines. And fertility researchers are constantly refining their protocols to implant as few embryos as possible. If you think that nobody should be allowed to access medical expertise to reproduce just because of this small risk, good luck with that. Not gonna happen. 100,000 babies born through IVF so far. If you think nobody should user fertility treatment and should "just" adopt, then a) please outline the procedure to "just" adopt b) acknowledge that adoption is neither easy, cheap, not morally unambiguous.

[rwe]

WAIT.... we need toask the Obamassiah what he thinks ..... Then get DCFS on the phone and get that poor child out of that mentally dranged situation

[andvoodoo2]

Could DCFS have helped you from turning out so "mentally dranged (sic)"?

[CindyKay]

Man You ARE Sad.......­..........­.....

[AzRealProgressive]

You should not talk about the person who just gave birth like that. That is not very nice.

[RaraAvis17]

Beautiful baby doll. I wish you and your family all the happines in the world.

[Kula]

Poor kid.

[newszombie]

Agreed...y­ou cant have it both ways, either your in or out dude. It's not fair to the kid to be involved in their confusion. This is just sick.

[danieljsf]

Actually, his experience proves that you can have it both ways.
That fact isn't changed by your small-minded prejudice.

[barbwiregrrl]

Gee did someone make you the decider as to who is male and who is female? Was there a vote and I missed it. Shessh talk about being a judgemental peon.

[klmebane]

thomas's wife couldn't get pregnant but she wanted to have a baby with her husband. thomas hadn't had reassignment surgery and still had a female reproductive system even though he is LEGALLY RECOGNIZED AS MALE in his home state.

[Twopennygal]

If you had followed this story at all you would know that Thomas' wife is Nancy who was his coach. He is a legally transgendered man. But when he had the surgery, he did not have his uterus removed because Nancy cannot have children and they dearly wanted them. So he made the sacrifice to keep that part of the female body he was born with so they could have their dream.

[Mort]

Made the sacrifice? They both wanted a child, the one with a working uterus chose to be a mother. That's a choice based on desire and anatomy, not a sacrifice. That clarifies the fact that she's still a woman, even if she's altered her appearance and outward behavior. She wanted to give birth more than she wanted to be a man. That, coupled with the desire for publicity, makes for a confusing start for the baby and is a setup for a life of stress, regardless of how much love there may be. I hope in the future they start thinking more about the needs of their daughter and less about their own wants. THAT qualifies as sacrifice and parental love.

[andvoodoo2]

Come out of the darkness, Mort, it's 2008. Gays, lesbians, transgendered and bisexuals adopt and have kids of their own all the time now. And, their children are no more likely to be gay than their counterparts being raised by "straight" couples.

BTW, we have "horseless carriages" and indoor plumbing almost everywhere now. (I said "almost" to spare you, just in case.) You'll be amazed once you leave the Dark Ages.

[bsc]

anatomy and gender are two different things

[barbwiregrrl]

Why do you feel the need to decide what another persons life story is? Shall we inspect your life and see if maybe you used to triffle through your momma's dresser and wear her underwear?

Maybe you don't pee standing up or something and that makes you less a man...or maybe you might need a magnafying glass to find your male member....­seems to me the men who have a problem with this guy are the ones who have issues with their own or lack of masculinity as they define it.

[Mutineer]

You'd also know that he took years of testosterone therapy and no one knows what the long-term effect on the child will be. I hope everything turns out ok, but if not, the parents' selfishness will be to blame.

[klmebane]

they are selfish for wanting to have and raise a child together?

[Barefoot]

It is really funny how many people here feel their own masculinity / femininity is under attack by this piece of news.

[Eric8869]

I think this "man' going to the media with this story has really hurt a lot of transgendered people. They are working hard for people to understand them and such a sensational story does nothing more than make transgendered people look like circus freaks.

[danieljsf]

I couldn't disagree more.
This story has done more to put transgendered issues on the media's map than any before.
Anyone who could describe this loving family as "circus freaks" is missing part of their humanity.

[helen]

And I disagree with you. As a trans-woman this has definitely hurt me out there in the world in terms of safety and acceptance. Unless you live in West Hollywood, it hasn't helped at all.

[MarkInEugene]

Every human being is just a few genes away from being the opposite sex. The human organism is an amazing piece of art if you will. Embryonic development is driven by genetic expression of countless metabolic pathways that influence the growth and formation of body parts, hair and dozens of other attributes.

Not many people can appreciate the diveristy that exists in the human population. The further from the norm one goes the greater the fear and the greater the disturbance to the average uneducated person. We are not yet enlightened enough as a species to understand, appreciate and speak objectively about this diversity.

As someone with a scientific background, I find it to be curious and compatible with the diversity found in all forms of life. As long as the baby is healthy and the couple is happy, life will go on and all is well on planet earth. Congratulations!

[AzRealProgressive]

Talking down to people with your pseudo intellectual academic arguement only enforces how little you learned at the university your parents paid to send you to. How can you be so disparaging and daft, all in the same paragraph? Did you read what you wrote?

'disturbance to the uneducated person" What an elitist! Scientific background? Starbucks?

[RaraAvis17]

What do you call what you are doing? Constructive criiticism? We get that you are judgemental. Give it a rest already. I have a feeling it doesn't take much to talk down to you.

[Mort]

Saying you're a man and trying to look like one isn't the same as being one. If she really wants to be considered one, she should stop trying to be a mother and have the surgery. Can't have it both ways.

[danieljsf]

Actually, it appears he can and he did.
Too bad for you that scientific possibilities trump your ignorant slant on reality.
Wishing all the best for the Thomas Beatie and his lovely family.

[Spinfusor]

"Ignorant slant on reality?" You're the one calling a woman on testosterone a man.

[millahnna]

Many Fem to Male Transgendered people choose not to have the bottom surgery for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which is the risk of a loss of sensation.

[bsc]

right - female to male surgery is much more difficult than male to female surgery.

[Glowcy]

. in terms of genitalia, the person who had the baby is not a man, "he" is a woman

if MSM can't get this story straight, no wonder McAwful is getting no MSM traction for "gaffes:

MSM sucks

.

[danieljsf]

In terms of human understanding about trangender issues, a transgendered person is the opposite sex on the inside (i.e. the brain) and genitalia is something incidental that can be removed when it is feasable for the person involved. Educate yourself and get your own story straight.

[Spinfusor]

There are lots of disorders in which the brain disagrees with the body. Usually, the mind is treated to bring it in line with reality.

Gender identity disorder shouldn't be any different.

[PopsicleStand]

I think what you meant to say was that the person in the article exhibits signs of being of the female sex since he still has a uterus. The words "man" and "woman" do not equate with physical sexual characteristics, but instead actually equate with presented superficial characteristics such as build, facial hair, greater muscle mass, etc. All qualities that would present Beatie as being a man.

Man or woman describes a person's superficial physical appearance, their gender if you will.

Female and male denote their sex which largely deals with the presence of particular sexual organs, though it is not limited to only that.

[Rendon76]

Stop calling him a man jeez.

[danieljsf]

Why? Just because you can't deal ... geez.

[Theda]

Does getting your boobs chopped off suddenly make you a man?

[VINSTERDUDE]

"hey - mommy has TWO beards,...­."

[arsphidius]

That made me laugh so hard I almost choked on my popcorn!

[going2ireland]

I have just one question. Where is "his" wife? Why is she not in the picture?

Does this not say something about why "he" got pregnant? All for publicity that "he" knew "he" would get.

I also do not understand how "he" can be a he if "he" still has reproductive organs. Those are only in women and since she had surgery to become a "he", then "he" can only be a he when all female reproductive organs are removed.

Yup - a true publicity hound!!

[OkieIntellectual]

I could say something about the the research thats been done into gender identity and how it is "hardwired" into a small part of the hypothalamus before we're already born, and that it is sometimes at odds with the physical development of the body, but I won't.

I could talk about the philosophical concept of identity, and how it is akin to intellectual property and thus the only entity who has real authourity in deciding what defines their identity is the individual, but I won't.

I could go on and on about all the transgendered people who are murdered for no other reason than someone saw them as "freaks" and decided that their presence was a threat to the idea of "normal", but I won't.

I won't because based on the majority of comments here, all that would fall on deaf ears. Despite the decidedly liberal slant to HuffPo readership, most (not all) of the posts here seem to be either lampooning this story or commenting with such vitrol and hostility that it is frightening.

[Oilygarch]

...wait... ...you just DID!

[AzRealProgressive]

You made your talking points. And in the process labeled evryone else who disagrees with you.

All you know is what you just talked about. Thanks for the lesson. All of us are now the wiser.

[jweev]

I could say that someone who has dubbed himself "OkieIntellectual" has pretensions most likely manifested from his/her own insecuriti­es/deficie­ncies, but I won't.

I could plagarize from a philosophy 101 book, hoping that nobody will notice, but I won't.

I could spout off about things to which I am no authority, but I won't.

I won't because based on OkieUninte­llectual's comments, all that would be ignored. I would just be thrust into a broad generalization of "most (not all)", because I commented in a way that did not conform to Okies view of what is right. Then, following an exhaustive thesaurus search by Okie, I would be lambasted in all kinds of wordiness.

[mulegino]

The frightening thing is that there are people either so dumb, or so blinded by this transgender ideology, that they don't know or refuse to acknowledge that she's a woman. Which brings to mind these passages from 1984:

'You are a slow learner, Winston,' said O'Brien gently.

'How can I help it?' he blubbered. 'How can I help seeing what is in front
of my eyes? Two and two are four.'

'Sometimes, Winston. Sometimes they are five. Sometimes they are three.
Sometimes they are all of them at once. You must try harder. It is not
easy to become sane.'

In 1984, Big Brother or the principles of Ingsoc determined what the people believed on any given day.
Today, instead of merely determining what a good percentage of the population believes, it would appear that many members of the public have let Main Stream/Corporate Media usurp their higher brain functions. Apparently it's not just the neo-cons who create their own reality.

[danieljsf]

And then there are those of us who reject the reality that you create, in which transgender issues are not real and valid. Pot meet kettle.

[klmebane]

that good percentage of the population you speak of isn't living as a transgendered person. and regardless of what anyone else believes, the concerns of the LGBT community are real and valid. there are those who believe that being gay is a choice, but that doesn't make it reality. and the MSM has nothing to do with transgendered people. members of the LGBT community have existed since before organized media did, although now we have the technology to help them to become parents or make their body match their sexual identity. in embryonic development it is simply chance which reproductive organs a baby will be born with. organs do not equal identity.