Thomas Beatie is an American female-to-male transsexual. His mother committed suicide when he was 12 and his father was never close to him. Thomas was born as a girl named Tracy LaGondino ,but being a child he always acted as a mischievous boy. At the age of 20 the young man decided that he was trapped inside awoman's body and when he was 24 he started to take male hormones. That was the first step to the sex change. Then he began transitioning in the late 1990’s by undergoing hormone therapy and surgery. He opted for a gender reassignment procedure that allowed him to keep his original reproductive organs. In 2002 he was legally recognized as a man, and in 2003 he married his wife, Nancy.
(Thomas beatie before transition - Tracy LaGondino )
Thomas and Nancy wanted to start a family, but it was the man who needed the sperm donor since Nancy was no longer able to bear children. So, in 2008, Thomas garnered worldwide attention by becoming pregnant through artificial insemination, thereby expanding the human experience of pregnancy to men. Today, he is renowned as the pop-culture icon, the world’s first Pregnant Man (The first person to give birth fully documented as male and legally married to a woman), and according to Guinness World Records, the World’s First Married Man to Give Birth.
News of Thomas' pregnancy sparked a worldwide media frenzy across multiple platforms. He appeared ininterviews with top echelon media moguls Oprah Winfrey, Barbara Walters, and Larry King, and has appeared regularly on popular venues like Good Morning America, The View, and most recently The Doctors.
Already by 2008, Thomas first pregnancy had become the largest and furthest reaching transgender newsstory in history, and kick-started a media cascade of growing world-wide transgender awareness and reporting that has still not seen its crest. The exclusive documentary, “Pregnant Man,” released in November of 2008, was wildly successful and continues to air today throughout the world, documenting the final weeks of his pregnancy and the landmark birth of Susan.
Shortly after Susan was born, Thomas authored his first book, " Labor of Love: The Story of One Man’s Extraordinary Pregnancy " . Now Thomas Beatie is considered as a beacon of hope for people struggling with the stigma that transgender people can't or shouldn't start a family. He sees a need to help today’s transgender youth by embracing the ideas of self-love and acceptance. He is embarking on a renewed effort to educate transgender people and their friends and families about the resources available to them—including the importance of maintaining one’s reproductive options and health.
Thomas Beatie now has three children, Susan (first), Austin (second) and Jansen (third). He gave birth to all three children naturally within 3 years of time.
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