Pregnant man is expecting baby in July
BY COMBINED NEWS SERVICES
Published in: Newsday, March 27, 2008
An Oregon transgendered man who used to be a woman says he is five months pregnant.
Thomas Beatie, whoÕs expecting a girl, tells his story in a first-person account published in ÒThe AdvocateÓ magazine, that also includes a picture of him while he was 22 weeks pregnant.
Beatie, legally a male, lives with his wife, Nancy. He claims to have stopped taking his testosterone injections to get pregnant. ÒSterilization is not a requirement for sex reassignment, so I decided to have chest reconstruction and testosterone therapy, but kept my reproductive rights,Ó he wrote in the story for the gay and lesbian magazine.
ÒHow does it feel to be a pregnant man? Incredible,Ó he adds. ÒDespite the fact that my belly is growing with a new life inside me, I am stable and confident being the man that I am.Ó
Small-town Oregon screen-printer Thomas Beatie was born a girl and is now, years later, about to give birth to one. Such is the cycle of life. Except that Thomas Beatie is now a man.
A course of advanced testosterone therapy and chest surgery left Beatie fitting into the social construct of what it is to be male, and legally, he is now recognized as such. He is, among many other things, capable of growing a full beard and being legally married to his wife.
Still, Beatie is not wholly biologically male. Beatie is transgender. Despite the male gender traits he now possesses, he chose to keep his female reproductive organs. He wanted to retain what he refers to as his, Òreproductive rights.Ó
But whose rights are these? Thomas Beatie, legally female? Thomas Beatie, legally male? Thomas Beatie, transgender? Or, are they the rights of Thomas Beatie, human being?
Believers are appalled by the prospect of males capable of getting pregnant, claiming that it is against the word of God. The Bible reads that men are to bear the workload and women to bear the children; that women shall ultimately be, Òsaved by childbearingÓ (1 Timothy 2:15). But in our ever-advancing scientific world, how closely should the Bible be followed?
Feminists argue that women and men should be treated equally. As much as this means women can be elected to the presidency, does it mean that men should be able to bear a child? Similarly, just how fair is it for an individual to reap the benefits of being both male and female? Should a transgender individual have to Òpay a priceÓ for changing the gender that nature assigned to them?
Neighbors of Thomas Beatie claim to not have noticed the baby bump at all, despite his being 5 months along. Thus, it is not impossible that at this very moment, Beatie is sitting in front of computer and grinning ear-to-ear at the outrage, the elation, and the uproar he has sparked through a clever little blogpost- and Photoshop-based hoax. But doctors say it is also not impossible that Thomas Beatie is legimately with child.
Perhaps come July, we will all be played the fools. Or, perhaps July will be the month that Thomas and Nancy Beatie welcome into this world a healthy baby girl, one to be raised by two human beings that love her.Additional Article:
Winners of pope tickets must pass security checks
BY BART JONES
Published in: Newsday, March 27, 2008
Employing a lottery system, the Diocese of Rockville Centre has selected 1,000 people to attend Pope Benedict XVIÕs Mass at Yankee Stadium next month, but church officials canÕt tell the lucky parishioners until they first pass federal security checks.
ItÕs just one more sign of how times have changed since Pope John Paul II visited New York in 1979, when he held an open-air, open-admission event at Battery Park.
All of BenedictÕs appearances during his six-day visit to New York and Washington, D.C., from April 15 to 20 will take place either indoors or at controlled sites such as sports stadiums, where spectators will be selected and will undergo security checks weeks ahead of time.
Rockville Centre received 13,000 requests from parishioners for the 1,000 seats it was allotted for the Yankee Stadium Mass, and held a lottery on Feb. 12, said diocesan spokesman Sean Dolan. He added that Bishop William Murphy misspoke in an interview Monday when he said there were 17,000 requests.
Dolan called the numbers Òan amazing response. It shows you the love for the church, how deep it is, and the love for the Holy Father.Ó
Murphy, the spiritual leader of Long IslandÕs 1.4 million Catholics, said, ÒIÕm still getting letters from people saying, ÔCanÕt you please find me a ticket?ÕÓ
The names of the 1,000 winners, and their dates of birth, were forwarded to the Archdiocese of New York, which is handling the popeÕs visit to the city. The archdiocese in turn forwarded the names to federal authorities, who are conducting security checks on each person.
Dolan said Rockville Centre expects to hear back from the archdiocese by the first week of April after the names are checked.
Those approved will have to arrive at designated bus stops on Long Island the day of the Mass, April 20, and go through a security check there. Then they will board the buses and be given a nontransferrable ticket. The buses will then take the attendees to Yankee Stadium.
Dolan said he doubted any of the lottery winners would be rejected by federal officials, but if they are, the diocese will hold another lottery to replace them. ÒWe have a huge pool to draw on if some people do not pass the security check,Ó he said.
He added that the security requirements seem reasonable, especially because New York was the central target of the Sept. 11 attacks. ÒItÕs very tight in terms of security,Ó he said.
Last modified 30 March 2008