The world's first male mother is pregnant again, hoping to enlarge the family he started after giving birth in June to a daughter.
Thomas Beatie, a former Hawaiian beauty queen, caused a worldwide clamour last spring after announcing his first pregnancy.
Beatie was born female but underwent sex change surgery in order to wed his partner Nancy legally. As part of the reassignment procedure, the former Tracy LaGondino took male hormones, inducing a beard and an outwardly masculine appearance. He kept his womb and ovaries intact in the hopes of one day having a child. Wife Nancy is infertile.
When Beatie announced he was expecting the child (of an anonymous sperm donor), a backlash ensued. Critics claimed that as a natural-born woman Beatie was not in fact a man but was merely masquerading as one. But the state of Oregon legally recognises him as one, and his marriage to Nancy is official and the couple enjoys all the rights and privileges of typical married pairs.
He gave birth naturally in June at an Oregon hospital, following a 40-hour labour.
"The only thing different about me is that I can't breastfeed my baby," Beatie said after the birth. "But a lot of mothers don't."
In an upcoming interview with ABC News, Beatie says that after the birth he did not resume male hormone treatment so as to facilitate a second pregnancy.
"I feel good," he told ABC News, adding that the hormone levels are healthy. "And everything is right on track." He says the baby is due June 12.
Source: Guardian.co.uk
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