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