The Pregnant Man splits from his wife just as he finalises his female to male gender surgery

Nancy and Thomas, with their children Susan, Austin and Jensen

Thomas Beatie, who is known across the world as 'The Pregnant Man', has announced his split from his wife of nine years.

Thomas Beatie, 38, revealed the break-up from his wife Nancy during a taping of the syndicated CBS show 'The Doctors'.

He also admitted during the interview that he had undergone his final gender reassignment surgery from female to male.

'Nancy hasn’t seen the new me yet,' said Beatie in a taping for the show which will be screened on Monday May 7.

'Like all marriages, we have our ups and downs, and we’re going through a rough patch right now.

'At the moment, we’re separated.'

Mr Beatie was born as a woman, Tracy Lagondino, in Hawaii in 1974, but says he always felt like he wanted to be a man.

When he was in his twenties he began having testosterone injections, giving him facial hair, a lower voice and altering his sexual organs.

In 2002 he had a mastectomy and legally became a man - but he chose to keep his vagina, uterus and other female sexual organs so the couple could have children, as his wife had had a hysterectomy.

He posed for an infamous picture in 2007 which displayed him as heavily pregnant but with facial hair.

He told Oprah on her show four years ago: 'I wanted to have a child one day. I didn't know how. It was just a dream.'

In an interview in March of this year Beatie and Nancy explained the stresses and strains they faced on a daily basis since coming into the public eye.

‘We have had a rough ride,’ said Beatie.

‘We have had death threats, crazies. I’ve been called a freak. The really nasty stuff has come online, with email, Facebook and YouTube.

‘Some of it has just been weird — such as people going to Hallowe’en parties dressed as me, “The Pregnant Man”.

'Some of it has been terrifying. One man has made videos pretending he has kidnapped Susan. He has a Susan doll and he hits her over and over. It’s sick.

‘The FBI have been involved and they monitor things for us. The world is full of crazy people and we have to have our wits about us.’

The couple bought sperm from an anonymous donor and Mr Beatie underwent artificial insemination. After an ectopic pregnancy which led to emergency surgery, he eventually fell pregnant with Susan in late 2007.

He had his next two children in quick succession, as he only had a short window of not taking testosterone.

Mr Beatie was having just eight menstrual cycles a year instead of 12, and only half of these cycles were useful for conception as he had previously had a fallopian tube removed due to the ectopic pregnancy.

He said at the time: 'I am only able to get pregnant four days out of the year... We had our babies in a short space of time because we don't have the luxury of waiting years between each child.'

Keeping life as normal as they could for their children Susan, Austin and Jensen, public interest in their unconventional family has always been intense with probing questions being asked of them, including how their sex life worked.

‘There are physical issues there obviously, but they aren’t the things that get in the way. The biggest problem is that we have three small children.

'Our challenge is actually getting the bed to ourselves!’ explained Beatie.

While Thomas and Nancy desperately tried to be an ordinary family, it was clear there were issues at play that never could be resolved.

Thomas gives birth to son Jensen James Beatie with his wife Nancy by his side

Thomas, in particular, felt the full burden of the world’s disapproval, including accusations of making money from the whole pregnancy experience.

Healthy baby boy: Jensen was born weighing eight pounds, nine ounces

But that’s not the case,’ said Beatie.

‘We did make a bit of money, but we lost a lot more. My t-shirt printing business went under — partly because we had to close the doors to stop all the crazies coming in.

‘It cost me thousands of dollars to become a man, and many more to get pregnant. Then I had to hire a lawyer to be allowed to call myself the father on Susan’s birth certificate.

‘Legally, it has been a nightmare. The authorities wanted to put Nancy and me down as “parent and parent” on the birth certificate, as they do for same-sex couples, but I wasn’t having it.

‘I am legally a man, and I am the father. It all got so confused that at one point they put Nancy down as the father and me as the mother.

‘That took a bit of sorting out. In the end, we had to formally adopt the children, even though they are biologically mine, from my eggs. It’s unfair and, of course, it cost us thousands in legal fees.’

In fact attention fell on Beatie's difficult childhood as a way for conservatives to understand his and Nancy's decision to become a family.

His mother committed suicide when he was 12, and he and his father were never close.

He was born a girl and given the name Tracy, but says that he was always a tomboy.

By the time he reached his 20s, he was convinced he was a man trapped in a woman’s body. At 24, he started taking male hormones — the first step towards a sex change.

By this time he had met Nancy, a body-builder. She is 11 years older than him and has two teenage daughters, Amber and Jen, from a previous marriage.

However, at the age of 28 she had a hysterectomy because of severe endometriosis — where cells from the lining of the womb are found elsewhere in the body — so she couldn’t have any more children.

The couple married in Hawaii in 2003.

Thomas had already had a mastectomy to remove his breasts, and hormone treatment that gave him an outwardly male appearance.

In March Mr Beatie revealed he had filed for bankruptcy and was desperately seeking a job to get his family off welfare handouts and pay his $5,000-a-month mortgage

He tried to appear on celebrity dance show Dancing with the Stars last year but was pipped to the post by transgender contestant Chaz Bono.

He also revealed that he would be having a hysterectomy in an interview with 'The Doctors' last year.

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Katy Perry and Russell Brand spend Christmas 7,000 miles apart

Katy Perry and Russell Brand

WHEN you’re trying to convince everyone your marriage is not on the rocks, pictures like these won’t help your cause.

Katy Perry and Russell insist that all is well in their marriage despite spending Christmas apart. Over 7000 miles apart for that matter.

While the 27-year-old singer soaked up the sun in Hawaii, her husband wrapped up warm at a charity swim in chilly Cornwall.

And her splashing in the waves without her wedding ring will do nothing to quash the rumours the couple are about to split. Nor will the snaps of 36-year-old Russell grinning like a Cheshire cat while surrounded by a host of girls – one in a bikini.

Katy Perry

Russell spent his Christmas in the rather less glamorous ­surroundings of a pub in the Cornish fishing village of Coverack. He later went to his comedian friend David Baddiel’s charity swim nearby where he was mobbed by fans.

Hmm, Hawaii or Cornwall – tough call that one.

Russell was also spotted at celeb favourite festive haunt Winter Wonderland in London’s Hyde Park on Tuesday, again without his wife.

The couple are constantly batting away speculation over the state of their marriage with Russell defending their relationship on The Ellen DeGeneres Show earlier this month.

When asked about rumours of a split the British comedian joked: “What?! She should have told me!” before adding: “I’ve treated the whole Internet now as a wicked little liar” – Russell was referring to allegations of a split that surfaced on Twitter at the beginning of December.

He continued: “I’m really happily married. Being famous is like a little bit of you is taken away and goes off and lives on its own and does what it wants. I wish it would do more interesting things.”

Russell said: “I’m married to Katy. Perpetually, until death do us part was the pledge. I'm still alive.”

The comedian also admitted he’d love to start a family with wife Katy saying: “I would like one [NB a baby]. I love those little babies in the beginning.”

We’re with Russell on this one – partly because we don’t think we can handle another Hollywood split.

But mainly because their babies would be so cute – and if Russell has his way, they’d probably be walking dictionaries by the time they were, er, walking.

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Airlines given permission to fly over North Pole for the first time slashing the hours to exotic destinations

A British Airways Boeing 777 which will be able to take a 'short cut' over the North pole

Airlines given permission to fly over North Pole for the first time slashing the hours to exotic destinations

Air passengers will be able to cut the times of long-haul flights by as much as half and fly faster to exotic destinations under a new relaxation of aviation rules.

It could also mean cheaper and cleaner flights for British holidaymakers.

The new rules will allow carriers operating in the South Pacific, to take a 'short cut' over the North Pole for the first time.

While pilots from Australia taking passengers to South America will be able to steer more direct courses making big savings in time, fuel and emissions.

Until now, Boeing’s 777 and the new 787 ‘Dreamliner’ jets had for safety reasons to stay within a  three hour range (180 minutes) of the nearest diversion airport.

Under the new rules, that has been nearly doubled to five and a half hours, (330 minutes) taking account of improvements in aircraft and engine  technology.

It means, for example, that planes from the UK  will be able to take a non-stop flight - dubbed 'Santa's short cut' - over  the North Pole to destinations such as Hawaii, Alaska or French Polynesia.

It also means shorter journeys, cheaper flights, less fuel, and lower emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) - the so-called greenhouse gas’ blamed for global warming.

The ‘extended operations’ rules define the time that an aircraft is permitted to be from an emergency landing site in case of an engine failure and is applied to two-engine jets.

It follows a decision  by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to allow up  to 330-minutes ‘extended operations’ for Boeings'  777 fleet.

It allows airlines operating Boeing  777-300ER (extended range), 777-200LR (longer range), 777 Freighter and 777-200ER models equipped with General Electric engines to fly up to 330 minutes from a potential ‘diversion’ airport.

Approval for the Boeing 777-200ER equipped with British Rolls-Royce and American Pratt & Whitney engines is expected to follow over the next few months.

The first airline to take advantage of the new longer ‘extended operations’ option is Air New Zealand which earlier this month flew from Los Angeles to Auckland.

Capt. David Morgan, chief pilot for Air New Zealand said: ‘What this means is that the aeroplane  is able to fly a straighter route between pairs of cities and that's good for the environment.

‘Less fuel is burned and less carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere. It's also good for customers because flights are potentially shorter and passengers could arrive sooner at their destinations.’

Virgin Atlantic airline president Sir Richard Branson said: 'This new development really does open up a whole new world.

'Our new fleet of 787s could well be flying to Honolulu or even Fiji one day.'

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Congress punts hard payroll tax work to 2012

Barack Obama

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama signed into law a two-month payroll tax cut extension on Friday, capping a year of fierce partisan combat over taxes and spending that will resume in January and play heavily in the 2012 elections.

The Senate and the House of Representatives, by voice votes in chambers nearly emptied for the holidays, passed a $33 billion (21 billion pounds) bill to keep the payroll tax rate at 4.2 percent through February. It had been scheduled to increase on January 1 to 6.2 percent. Obama swiftly signed the bill.

"We have a lot more work to do," the president said at the White House. "This continues to be a make-or-break moment for the middle class ... There are going to be some important debates next year."

Obama heads to vacation in Hawaii with an important political win in his portfolio after he and fellow Democrats prevailed in the message war by backing lower taxes for middle-class Americans in the midst of a fragile economic recovery.

The battle took a toll on House Republicans led by Speaker John Boehner, who were forced to make an embarrassing retreat and agree to a short-term deal Thursday after getting hit by critics on all sides, include their colleagues in the Senate.

The temporary fix lets lawmakers lower the curtain, for now, on a year of political deadlock that in the end produced only a series of inconclusive truces. The fiscal policy debate is set to rage straight through the 2012 election season and beyond.

While Congress is on a long winter break now and does not return to full swing until late January, newly appointed negotiators are expected to begin work soon on figuring out how to pay for extending the payroll tax cut through 2012.

Republicans have sought a continued freeze on federal worker pay and cuts in Medicare benefits for the wealthy. Democrats have rejected both ideas while proposing a surtax on the wealthy to cover the extension's cost. Republicans reject this.

Both sides have been open to cutting federal workers' pension benefits. There also were last-minute Senate negotiations last week on possibly ending some tax breaks for the wealthy, such as a small one involving corporate jets.

Minutes after the bipartisan deal was passed by Congress, the bickering that has come to dominate Capitol Hill resumed.

Republican Representative Tom Price, a leader of House conservatives, immediately criticized the short-term extension, calling it a "two-month punt" and saying it would not have been needed if Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, and Obama had "been willing to do their job today."

'NOTHING OFF THE TABLE'

In a sign that the battle is far from over, Reid signaled that Democrats could renew their push for a surtax on wealthier Americans. Democrats had dropped that demand during the year-end negotiations that produced the two-month deal.

"There is nothing off the table," he said.

Obama scored a victory in the payroll tax struggle over Tea Party conservatives in the House who tried to block the two-month extension. They backed down on Thursday in the face of bipartisan criticism, but they are not going away.

Representative Tim Huelskamp, a first-term Republican, said on CNN that he was disappointed with Republican leadership caving in to pressure and accepting the two-month deal.

Next year could be a rough one for Boehner, the top House Republican, said Norm Ornstein, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank.

Boehner spent 2011 having to negotiate with many of his own party members on just about every major piece of legislation.

Now that House Republicans have had to go along with Democrats in the payroll tax debate, "the idea that this group of angry Tea Party Republicans, who feel betrayed, now will go along or that Boehner will be more capable of defying them is a little bit wrong-headed," Ornstein said.

Meanwhile, Democrats might be emboldened, believing "they've learned to play poker," he added.

Patrick Griffin, associate director Of American University's Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, said House Republicans "overplayed their hand. How they interpret that lesson will be very interesting."

Any edge conferred on Democrats might be short-lived, however. The 2012 election cycle is just set to kick off with the Iowa Republican presidential caucus on January 3 and a long road lies ahead until voters go to the polls in November.

The payroll tax funds the Social Security retirement pension system. If it had been allowed to rise, the increase would have hit the wallets of 160 million working Americans.

The $33 billion needed to pay for the two-month extension will be raised by increasing fees charged by housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for guaranteeing mortgages.

Analysts said the fee hike, which investors will likely pass along to borrowers, could raise financing costs for mortgages, but probably not enough to slow a housing market recovery.

Unemployment benefits set to expire soon were extended as well, while cuts in payments to doctors who treat patients in the government-backed Medicare health insurance program for the elderly were postponed, under the bill signed by Obama.

Also included in it was a Republican initiative aiming to force the administration into fast approval of an oil pipeline opposed by environmentalists and many Democrats. The provision gives Obama 60 days to either approve TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to Gulf of Mexico facilities in Texas, or declare it not in the national interest.

Obama wants more time to evaluate the environmental impact of routing the pipeline through sensitive areas of Nebraska. The White House has said that if pushed for a decision within 60 days, the administration would be forced to reject the project.

Not extending the payroll tax cut, analysts warned, could have jeopardized the recovery, even risking another recession.

The modest two-month fix drew fire from some businesses that said it will complicate payroll processing and tax planning.

The payroll situation "could get more confusing," said Robert Gard, an accountant with Gard and LaFreniere LLC in Alpharetta, Georgia. If the tax is not extended at the end of February, businesses will need to reprogram software, he said.

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Why Beach Volleyball is the hottest sport ever

Player of Beach Volleyball

Beach volleyball is a sport. With boobies.  It would appear that the object of the game is to hit the volleyball over the net and ground it on the other side of the net to gain points.

The real objective, however, is to see how long you can oogle gorgeous women in bikinis before anyone realizes you are paying no attention whatsoever to the game.

There is also men's beach volleyball. Men's beach volleyball is for queers.

The first recorded beach volleyball game took place in Waikiki, Hawaii. The sport was popularized in Southern California. Analysts blame the lack of beautiful, tanned women in bikinis in states such as New Jersey.

The game skyrocketed in popularity when men came to the realization that this was a chance for them to be able to stare at hot women in bikinis running around for a while and not get called perverts. Tennis has also seen a rise in popularity due to this trend, but beach volleyball players are wearing much less than tennis players. Plus, the chance of a top coming off is significantly higher than in tennis.

Before starting a game of beach volleyball, there are two very important things players must do:

1. Stretch out. Preliminary stretching both loosens one's muscles to make them more flexible and agile, but also prevents muscle injuries.

2. Stay hydrated. Drink plenty of water in order to prevent dehydration.

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