It looks like the world’s first pregnant man has landed a documentary that will be shown on the glorious BBC 4. We get the following scoop from birth canals of yahoo:
British independent TV producer and distributor DCD Media Plc said on Thursday it had won worldwide rights to produce a documentary on the “pregnant man” for Britain’s Channel Four. DCD’s September Films unit beat four other production firms to win the commission, and will have exclusive access to Thomas Beatie, the first man in the world to give birth, for the hour-long documentary, the company said.
Beattie, 34, was born female, named Tracy Lagondino, and was a Hawaiian beauty pageant contestant before undergoing gender reassignment surgery and hormone treatment. He gave birth to a girl at an Oregon hospital on June 29, People magazine reported on July 3.
Thomas Beatie may be a man now, but the dude was born with a uterus. I’m not going to say that it isn’t a topic worthy of attention; I just think he has an unfair advantage. Show me a dude that is pregnant, and wasn’t born with a uterus, and I will scream “stop the presses!”
A documentary on Thomas Beatie is something that I look forward to seeing. Many that work with him who may not know his female past would certainly shoot him some peculiar looks ’round the third trimester. People may assume that he has given up on life and has drowned himself in a mountain of burgers and booze. The co-workers would certainly stress to explain the healthy glow about him however.
I will most likely have to wait till this appears on DVD to catch it, but for those of you that have access to BBC4 – please share your thoughts when you get a chance to see it.
http://www.malepregancy.com
the above web site has a MALE that is pregnant. Thrbaby is in the lying of his stomach.
why is this even on here?
Bruce,
I may have missed a post somewher, but I don’t see anyone being intolerant of gay couples here, or even of gay couples having children. Most of us are simply saying there’s not a story here. A woman is having a baby. Big deal.
As for feeling sorry for the child, how could you not? The kid’s birth parent clearly has gender identification issues, and, unlike most people, has made a public spectacle out of those issues, necessarily dragging the child into it. It’s gonna be a hard row to hoe for that kid, even if the parents are the most loving, nurturing parents in the world.
I didn’t know people were so damn hostile towards circus acts. Would you still feel sorry for the kid if they were a just lesbian couple (because that’s what you guys are saying they are)? Do you all feel so disgusted about Grady Stiles (“lobster boy”) who actually was part of a freakshow. He had children who were born with the same deformities as him. The man was abusive to his family, an alcoholic, and convicted of murdering his daughter’s fiance. Would you guys just roll off with disgust and be hostile towards the fact that they would make a documentary or even a feature film about this man? I really don’t think so.
I know you may think that this is a stretch… but me and my wife are an interracial couple. My parents were an interracial couple. But interracial couples weren’t always treated the same in this country as they are now. And people in the past would have the EXACT same responses to us as you guys have towards same sex couples: “It’s unnatural”, “I feel sorry for their kids”, “what will their children be? They won’t be accepted in this society” (this last one still happens today).
This kind of fast, hard intolerance really pisses me off.
Vic, I totally agree !
“Wow. I’m feeling hostility towards the subject from some of these responses.”
Wow, how incredibly intuitive…
If she wanted to be a man, she shouldn’t be having a baby. Like I said, “freakshow” is the best word for this – should be a circus act.
I feel for the kid.
Vic
gender identity is a little more complex than a lot of people… It isn’t a case of “Identifying as Val Kilmer.” A person can be born with certain brain patterns that can be completely odds with their gender. Making ridiculous comparisons with someone thinking themselves a monkey just reveals your own ignorance of the issue.
I’m sure someone’s waiting to call me gay for knowing this, or pointing this out, but it’s proven physical traits in people suffering from gender dysphoria, their physicality is different from you or I.
This “guy” had this planned ever since he was accepted by the media. Take a look at your culture America.
@ EmilyK
Fair enough–there’s a difference between sex and gender. That doesn’t make this any more of a story. There are masculine women out there who have been having babies for centuries. The “story” seems to be that “a man is having a baby.” Most people will infer that the documentarians are talking about sex, not gender.
So the question, I guess, is this: do the terms “man” and “woman” refer to sex or gender?
@Andys
I understand what you’re saying, but it’s also a FACT that there is a difference between sex and gender. To borrow from the link I posted:
Sex – refers to biological differences; chromosomes, hormonal profiles, internal and external sex organs.
Gender – describes the characteristics that a society or culture delineates as masculine or feminine.
I apologize for being so picky. Like I said, I’ve just studied too much on the subject not to be.
As for the original article, what’s interesting about the whole thing is not that fact that he got pregnant. Because his sex is still female, it’s nothing miraculous. What is fascinating is society’s reaction to this. If the documentary covers that, it could be really interesting.
@Emily
He/she can identify himself as Val Kilmer, it doesn’t make it so. Just like having a few operations and applying a little less or a little more makeup doesn’t change the way you were originally created. The FACT is he is still a woman only now he can mask his/her true identity.
wow people…
There’s a difference between sex and gender. Sex is your biology, and it’s true that Thomas is biologically female. However, gender is what you identify yourself as, and Thomas identifies himself as male. For further reading: http://www.med.monash.edu.au/gendermed/sexandgender.html
Sorry but I’ve taken way too many gender studies classes not to get nit picky about this.
but i agree with basically all of you, balcony your right though
it doesn’t karl, i’m just saying. but i do see what your saying, i really didn’t need to say that. but i still don’t wanna watch
Completely agree with those who say this really isn’t news. They’ve essentially created a story by insisting that this woman is now a man. She isn’t. She’s a woman who has cosmetically made herself look like a man. It’s nothing more than a very expensive version of playing dress-up.
what Karl said…
this is nothing special about. Its just another woman who is pregnant. Regardless of his transgender status, she still has the anatomy of a woman, therefore she can get pregnant. this is ridiculous that she/he, whatever is getting so much attention.
Doug said, “Show me a dude that is pregnant, and wasn’t born with a uterus, and I will scream “stop the presses!”
agreed, now that would be something. this is nothing, like i said another woman pregnant.
Is that Eminem? ;-)
Quite honestly, I feel bad for the kid in this. To be this kid would be hell. Famous for the fact that your dad gave birth to you. That’s what I hope they will adress is how this guy could do this to a kid. Because you know that little kid is gonna get the crap beat out of him because of who his parents are
AGREED!
Guy used to be a girl… so he will always be a girl. thus nothing special going on here…
Wow. I’m feeling hostility towards the subject from some of these responses.
Karl, I think you are right… I hope the documentary takes that approach towards the subject.
No to be insensitive or rude… but my first response…
WHO GIVES A CRAP?
Oh, and also, this film should be called “Woman gives birth to baby”. At which point everyone would of course say, I’m not watching that, I know women can have children.
She’s a man like I’m a duck.
People, FFS, this is NOT on the BBC. It’s on CHANNEL4.
These are not the same.
For crying out loud, why are you even giving this freakshow any free press?
Vic
People wanting the ‘best’ of both worlds…we have developed into a very greedy species.
Good ol’ BBC – I miss that channel. Australia’s version of a documentary is BB. Nice.
This is just outside of my weirdness threshold.
What I dont understand is okay so SHE didnt want to be a SHE anymore and became a HE yet wants to be able to do SHE things….anyone else see the confusion in this? I don’t understand why SHE/HE would go through all the procedures to be a man and yet retain parts of the she and use them to give birth to a kid. Seems really selfish and iresponsible. I feel bad for the baby.
Aaron, that’s an extremely childish and insecure attitude you’re displaying there. Why would the fact that you’re not gay (or so you feel the need to announce) matter at all?
After all, I’m not a cowboy, but I sure love westerns.
This is so stupid. I understand that the BBC is using a sensationalized title to attract eyeballs, but it should be entitled something like “Transgender Parents and Society.” Karl, your post is right on.
This person is a woman… period. If I had hair transplant procedures every week for a year and learned to swing on a vine it wouldn’t make me a monkey.
thats freakin nasty i’m not watchin this im not gay
I can see that girl’s boobs. Teehee!
Things like this make me puzzle about how anything can be sensationalised. This is no more amazing than any of the female population being pregnant, because the man in question is still anatomically female, regardless of his transgender status.
That’s not to say it couldn’t be an interesting documentary, because it is a unique case, and has the opportunity to delve into a lot of problems facing transgender people. The idea of a child being raised with a TG parent is something that could face a lot of problems, and a documentary could address that.
nasty
This is due to be on channel 4 in the uk, a different channel to bbc4
Thanks you for that hookup!
You can get all the best bbc stuff for free online.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/
This doesn’t deserve any attention. The “man” still has vagina, thus he isn’t really a man.