Mr. Mom

Recently Thomas Beatie, a transgender man, announced that he was 6-months pregnant through artificial insemination. Beatie has been taking high levels of testosterone for 10 years, after undergoing sexual reassignment surgery. His wife Nancy was unable to have children following a hysterectomy, and together they decided for Beatie to have their child, because he still has his female reproductive organs.\nA lot of people are confused about how to feel about this. Arguments have been made that the Beaties should have adopted instead. I don’t fully understand this claim because a lot of people, of any gender, want to be able to have their own kids if it’s in any way possible, and this is a natural human desire. Even though he decided to become a man, if he has the reproductive organs to bear children, more power to him.\nI can’t accept the argument that their daughter will have to spend years of her life in therapy because her childhood was awful. That is a horrible reason not to have kids, and one that’s often used against gay couples with children. Are we seriously as a society supporting the idea that since it’s not conforming to the norm, it shouldn’t be done? Isn’t that all the more reason to do it, so that in the future more and more people, whatever their genders or sexual preferences, are able to have kids and not have to worry about their children being tormented on the playground? In my opinion, it’s much more important that the child is brought up in a loving environment with parents who are dedicated and committed to the child. Beatie’s daughter will have it better off than a lot of other children in that regard.\nAmerican society is so concerned with gender, and most people don’t realize it. We are so determined to keep our culture one of only men and women. Well, believe it or not, a lot of other cultures believe in three or four or five genders (hijra and two-spirit are just a couple if you’d like to go look them up. Or take a gender studies class). Gender is cultural and not biological. It’s not this untouchable, permanent, fixed thing that we all are taught to believe it to be. If Beatie is a man and can have kids because he’s transgender, that’s all there is to it. \nI hate to say it, but childbirth isn’t something sacred. It’s a biological process put into place so our species will survive. Sure, it’s beautiful and wonderful and all that, but it’s not some holy thing only certain people should be encouraged to do. Even cockroaches have kids. \nI’m actually excited Beatie announced his story, received lots of media attention and even appeared on Oprah. Sure, there’s going to be backlash, but at least the transgender community is getting some media recognition and cultural visibility. What should be getting more coverage in this story is any potential health concerns for the child because of Beatie’s testosterone intake over several years. Of course, there isn’t a whole lot of research on that, and this is where the focus should be headed. Maybe in the future, Beatie’s story won’t have to be one of sensationalist media attention, with claims of him being a sinner and a bad person. Instead, maybe he would go on as the norm in society, judged as a parent solely for the love and dedication he gives his child.