Thomas Beatie - formerly Tracy Lagondin - was born female but underwent a sex change operation in his 20s. He had his breasts removed and his chest flattened and he took hormones to encourage muscle growth and facial hair, but he kept his vagina, womb and ovaries so that one day in the future he would be able to have children.
After falling in love with his girlfriend, Nancy, he decided to have a sex change and become a man because Haiwaian law forbids same sex marriages and he wanted to marry the love of his life. After extensive treatment and counselling, he became a burly muscular man with a deep voice and facial hair, and with his clothes on, no one would ever guess he used to be a woman. Legally, he is classed as a male and five years ago, he and Nancy got married.
Nancy, however, has two grown up daughters from a previous relationship, is now in her mid forties and has had a hysterectomy, leaving the job of childbearing to her husband.
They purchased a syringe without a needle from the local vet and used that to impregnate Mr. Beatie in the privacy of their own home. They used sperm donated from an anonymous donor.
The couple faced hostility from the outset, when nine obstetricians refused to care for Mr. Beatie. Even the gay community was mixed about how they felt about a 'pregnant man'. Some felt that as a man, Thomas Beatie should not be giving birth. What if those feelings and experiences would make him want to be female again? Others, while not objecting to the actual pregnancy, thought that our conservative and traditional society in which gay marriage is not even legal in many countries, would not be remotely ready for the possibility of a legal man being pregnant.
Eventually they found Dr. Kimberly James who agreed to monitor his pregnancy. A caesarean section was planned but Thomas went into labor early and had a natural delivery at St. Charles Medical Center, Bend, Oregon.
He had a baby girl on Sunday 29th June 2008 and had no complications. The baby is healthy.
What makes this story rather amazing is that after the extensive hormone therapy that Thomas has had, most trans-gender people cannot have children. The hormones should have prevented a pregnancy from taking place. Although he stopped taking hormones two years ago in order to try for a child, usually the effects of those hormones are permanent, so the fact that is was possible at all is remarkable.
When asked what her role would be, Nancy Beatie said the traditional role.
'He's going to be the father and I'm going to be the mother.'
Thomas affirmed that it would not change the man he was and that he was looking forward to fathering his baby.
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