US transgender man gives birth to baby

Thomas Beatie, who was born a woman but after surgery and hormone treatment lives as a man, has given birth to a girl at an Oregon…

Thomas Beatie, who was born a woman but after surgery and hormone treatment lives as a man, has given birth to a girl at an Oregon hospital.

Mr Beatie (34), who kept female reproductive organs after initiating a transgender transformation and legally changing his name from Tracy Lagondino in his 20s, gave birth on June 29th. 

The baby was conceived through artificial insemination using donor sperm and Mr Beatie's own eggs.

Mr Beatie and the baby are "healthy and doing well," Peoplemagazine reported.

"The only thing different about me is that I can't breast-feed my baby. But a lot of mothers don't," Peoplequoted Mr Beatie as saying. He has had his breasts surgically removed.

He told the magazine that contrary to published reports, the baby was not delivered by Caesarean section, but no other details about the birth were given.

Mr Beatie made world headlines - and stoked public debate about the boundaries of gender identity - when he went public with his pregnancy during a guest appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Showin April, in which he was shown undergoing an ultrasound examination.

He told Winfrey then that he began his sexual transformation about 10 years ago when he started taking testosterone injections and had surgery to remove mammary glands and flatten his chest.

Upon deciding to have a child about two years ago, he halted his bimonthly hormone injections and resumed menstruating.

Mr Beatie's wife, Nancy (46), whom he married five years ago, was unable to conceive because of a prior hysterectomy. Otherwise, he has said, "I wouldn't be doing this." His spouse has two grown daughters by a previous marriage.