In Response to "Labor of Love"

Transgender man Thomas Beatie set off a firestorm in the LGBT population and the world when he announced that he is having a baby and continues to identify as a man. His article in The Advocate, “Labor of Love,” left many, even some transgender people, wondering how someone can identify as male and yet be pregnant. Some have even gone so far to suggest that by bearing the child he is less, or even not, male, despite Beatie’s declaration that he continues to identify as male.

But nature is full of pregnant males. Male sea horses, pipefish, and weedy and leafy sea dragons are examples of males that can get pregnant. Some intersex people with XY chromosomes develop female bodies and the pregnant person has a Y chromosome, which is usually associated with males. The argument that it is unnatural for him to have a baby flies in the face of real, live examples from nature where males get pregnant. Beatie, who has had various surgeries and hormone therapies over the years but did not have his ovaries and uterus removed, has chosen to carry a child because his wife could not conceive. The baby is due in July. This is about the birth of a child, and this birth is no more or less miraculous than the birth of any child.

Some suggest that by not fitting in as an everyday man, Beatie makes it harder for the rest of the FTM population. Being “out” is a complicated question for transgender people. Many feel there is nothing to be out about. They don’t see themselves as transgender per se, but rather transitioned, as they are finally able to be the man or woman that they felt they were. That said, we, the transgender community, should never discourage people from being out, nor should we dictate what they should do or say once they are out. I remember that in the early '90s many would say we should prohibit outrageously dressed people from marching in pride parades because hate groups would tape them and then use the footage to raise funds to be used against us. The Beatie story has limited relevance to the larger transgender experience, but I am happy for the Beaties, and it is my hope that we will embrace all of our diversity, proud of all our differences because it strengthens us more than we will ever know.