Nickerie.Net, woensdag 26 maart 2008

'Man' vijf maanden zwanger

AMSTERDAM - Wat ooit al in een film gebeurde, is werkelijkheid geworden. Een Amerikaanse man is vijf maanden zwanger...  Natuurlijk kan iemand die als man geboren is niet zwanger worden, maar Thomas Beatie zit middenin het proces om van een vrouw in een man te veranderen, meldt het homo-magazine The Advocate.

Als vrouw zijnde wilde Thomas man worden en volgde hij de testosterontherapie. Ook heeft hij zijn borsten laten weghalen, maar verdere operaties heeft hij nog niet ondergaan... Wel is hij officieel al een man en ondertussen ook getrouwd met Nancy.

Kinderwens

Thomas en Nancy besloten, toen ze tien jaar een relatie hadden, dat ze een kind wilde hebben, maar Nancy kon geen kinderen krijgen. Daarom besloot het stel dat Thomas de baby zou dragen.

Hij stopte tijdelijk met het slikken van hormonen en werd met behulp van een spermadonor zwanger. Thomas vindt het 'ongelooflijk'. "Ondanks dat mijn buik groeit, voel ik me nog steeds volledig man..."

Oorspronkelijk bericht:

Labor of Love

Thomas Beatie From

The Advocate March 25, 2008 Labor of Love

Transman Thomas Beatie gives The Advocate a first-person account of how it feels to be pregnant and carrying a child for his wife and himself. To our neighbors, my wife, Nancy, and I don’t appear in the least unusual. To those in the quiet Oregon community where we live, we are viewed just as we are -- a happy couple deeply in love. Our desire to work hard, buy our first home, and start a family was nothing out of the ordinary. That is, until we decided that I would carry our child.

I am transgender, legally male, and legally married to Nancy. Unlike those in same-sex marriages, domestic partnerships, or civil unions, Nancy and I are afforded the more than 1,100 federal rights of marriage. Sterilization is not a requirement for sex reassignment, so I decided to have chest reconstruction and testosterone therapy but kept my reproductive rights. Wanting to have a biological child is neither a male nor female desire, but a human desire.

Ten years ago, when Nancy and I became a couple, the idea of us having a child was more dream than plan. I always wanted to have children. However, due to severe endometriosis 20 years ago, Nancy had to undergo a hysterectomy and is unable to carry a child. But after the success of our custom screen-printing business and a move from Hawaii to the Pacific Northwest two years ago, the timing finally seemed right. I stopped taking my bimonthly testosterone injections. It had been roughly eight years since I had my last menstrual cycle, so this wasn’t a decision that I took lightly. My body regulated itself after about four months, and I didn’t have to take any exogenous estrogen, progesterone, or fertility drugs to aid my pregnancy.

Our situation sparks legal, political, and social unknowns. We have only begun experiencing opposition from people who are upset by our situation. Doctors have discriminated against us, turning us away due to their religious beliefs. Health care professionals have refused to call me by a male pronoun or recognize Nancy as my wife. Receptionists have laughed at us. Friends and family have been unsupportive; most of Nancy’s family doesn’t even know I’m transgender.

WWW.NICKERIE.NET

E-mail: info@nickerie.net

Designed by Galactica's Graphics