Here is a story of Thomas Beattie - a "man" expecting his second child. This story is getting lots of media attention, though not many are really talking about the biology behind the story. Thomas was born a woman, but went through surgery and hormone treatment to become a male. He stopped taking hormones (testosterone in particular) to become pregnant.
An interesting situation pops up here.....Thomas is legally a man, though biologically female, and is married to a woman. But how do those favoring Prop 8 feel about this?
7 comments:
I heard about this guy earlier in the year and didn't realize until only a few months ago that he was born a woman. Now knowing that the whole case makes sense. The biology seems straightforward in the sense that when he stopped taking his testosterone drugs, his female reproductive organs were, well, "ready" again. I'm more curious to know the actual affects testosterone has on the female reproductive organs or what happened to his levels of estrogen and if that has to do anything with this case.
honestly, I'm not sure prop 8 has too much to do with this. There are many reasons why someone might or might not support prop 8, but if you ask say 10,000 people why they voted one way or another, this will not be their first response for determining their vote.
But in my personal view, I think that this is too much of an extreme circumstance to even judge the situation. Especially for me because I am unclear how he got pregnant in the first place and how we will have the baby.
I kind of agree with Avram. I don't think that everyone, or even a large majority of the people who voted for prop 8 would have the same opinion regarding Thomas Beattie. Legally he is a man so his marriage with his wife is heterosexual but biologically he is a woman so it isn't. It really depends on how you see him (man, woman, something in between).
I watched part of his interview on Oprah where he talks a little more about the specifics of his genitalia. He has all the female reproductive organs but when he went on hormones his clitoris grew into a small penis. However, it can't be too small because he said that with it, he is able to have intercourse with her.
One thing I really liked that he said in his interview was when he said that the reason he didn't get rid of his female reproductive organs was because he was always planning on having a baby. He said that it doesn't matter if you're a man or a woman; it's human to want to have a baby.
I think this is fascinating. Like Avram said I don't understand how he had a baby and how his wife didn't ESPECIALLY after reading what Hannah said about him having a penis.
Looking at the picture of him gives me mixed feelings. First, pregnancy for me is hard to get my head around. ya duh we all came from our parents but it's just weird to think about actually forming inside your mother. Second, to then have a picture of a man pregnant is even more unsettling. BUT if you take a step back and don't think about the biology behind pregnancy the picture is admirable.
I admire him for being confident with who he and sharing his experience/situation with the rest of the world, knowing that it's a highly controversial situation.
ALSO I'm curious to know what his wife thinks about him being pregnant and not her.
Thomas Beatie is starting to become more popular day by day. However in terms of biology, I find this to be a little weird. Trying to grasp the reasoning behind a man having a baby, even though he is technically a woman, defeats the common view of pregnancy. I agree with Micaela it is hard to get around the concept. I would like to know the perception of his wife and her feelings toward her "husband" having the baby.I agree with Avram that this is an extreme situation.
Just as everyone else, i agree with Avram! Yes, this is an extreme, extreme, extreme situation. However, when it comes to being pregnant...he is still a woman. He was born a woman, has the woman parts, but was legally changed to a man. Because after all, he is still a woman...he can still have kids through C-section.
When it comes to prop 8...biologically, yes it is same-sex marriage. However, legally this isn't same-sex marriage because he is legally a man married to a woman, but simply has womanly parts.
I honestly don't think prop 8 has anything to do with this. if people are going to be creeped out/against this guy it would not be because it's "biologically" a female-female marraige. most likely, as said in the article and clearly obvious in gossip magazines and such, people think that he is a man, and that this is just a very strange miracle of life. I didn't really understand this until i read the article.
It's too wierd though. Mostly, what I would like to know is how his wife reacts to having a man/woman husband. It seems very odd to me. I guess she must love him very much, but that situtation seems slightly horrific to me. I would not want that in my husband, personally.
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