Trans Positions

“I’m going to be sick. I am upset…. That was not only stupid and useless but, quite frankly, disgusting.” —Mika Brzezinski, cohost, Morning Joe, MSNBC

“There is no way this child will be able to lead a normal life. Oregon is a strange state, but they cannot seriously allow this to happen. It is unethical, immoral, and disturbing.” —a comment posted on a Washington Post blog

When Oregon trans man Thomas Beatie first told the world that he was pregnant in The Advocate in March, readers learned that he transitioned about 10 years ago, underwent a double mastectomy, and began testosterone injections. He and his wife, Nancy, decided to have a child, but because of a hysterectomy years ago, Nancy couldn’t carry the baby. So Beatie stopped his hormone injections, underwent artificial insemination, and, after several doctors refused to treat him, finally found an obstetrician who would. His pregnancy, he wrote, was “free of complications.” Health complications, maybe, but it would not be without other difficulties.

For all the personal trials Thomas Beatie has endured, his decision to go public may cause even broader political and cultural implications for the transgender population as a whole. And some trans people worry that the sensational—and occasionally nasty—media coverage that’s appeared since the article was published is only the beginning.

Good Morning America, the Associated Press, Fox News, and the BBC picked up the story. Overnight, readers from China to Chico, p

Calif., were digesting what one blogger called this “real Mr. Mom’s” incredible journey. Headlines screamed, “This Is No Belly Gaffe—Pregnant Pop Aims to Deliver,” (New York Post), “Pregnant Dad Was a Pin-Up Girl,” (South Africa’s Sunday Tribune), and “Case of Bearded Mummy” (the U.K. Sunday Mirror). Some media organizations wondered if the story was an elaborate April Fool’s joke timed to Beatie’s upcoming appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Some of Beatie’s neighbors in Bend, Ore., went on the record saying the story wasn’t true. One speculated he just had a large beer belly.

But after an exclusive agreement to pose for a People magazine photo shoot and appear on Oprah, which showed video of him getting an ultrasound, everyone had to believe it. During the hour-long program Winfrey gently teased the story out of a shy Beatie. His stepdaughters, neighbors, and ob-gyn also weighed in, confirming how happy they are about the pregnancy and stressing how normal the Beaties are.

Beatie, however, did have one complaint that might have been lost in all the baby news. He said he reached out to transgender organizations before he went public. Half never called back; most of the others discouraged him from the exposure. Ultimately, they said, they were worried.

The worry seems to stem from a couple of different issues. First, some people are concerned specifically for Beatie’s family. Transgender activist Jamison Green admits he was in this camp. He says he’s thrilled Beatie’s pregnancy is healthy and that he knows other transgender people who have had children, but none have been so vocal about it. “I wish he didn’t turn himself over to the media,” says Green, author of Becoming a Visible Man. “It makes me wonder, Down the line will all this publicity hurt them or hurt their child? Will the media ever leave them alone?”