Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Pregnant Man

I used to be an OB nurse. And nearly every time I worked, I would be completely shocked at the things that patients (or visitors) didn't know. SHOCKED. So I would routinely provide the requested information and then also explain that they could say 'they knew me when' since I was going to get my own tv show, in order to inform the masses of much needed information.

I haven't gotten around to finding someone who wants to put me on tv, but I have a blog. And now will subject you all to all things newborn and obstetrical, otherwise known as "the things I think everyone should know about". You're welcome.

The first thing is not anything that I have any first hand knowledge of, but it is something that I'm sure everyone will be buzzing about by this time tomorrow. Mostly because Oprah's doing a show on it tomorrow. Shut up. You know that you want to know about it too.

So anyway, in case you haven't heard, Oprah is doing a show about a pregnant man. And because I was awake during at least part of my college education, I can inform you of just how such a thing happens.

You have to have a uterus to be pregnant. Shocking, no? And there is pretty much only one way that a man can have a uterus. Which is the same way a woman does - he has to be born with it. Which means that he was born a hermaphrodite. **I stand completely corrected. I either misread or saw incorrect information (you mean all things on the internet aren't true?!) about Mr Thomas Beatie. He was not born a hermaphrodite and instead had sexual reassignment surgery. However the end result is not much different. He is a man with a uterus. Having a baby. My deepest apologies for the incorrect information, I was WRONG. Feel free to mark this as something to come back to, just in case I ever dispute that fact.



Image from: The National Ledger


When a baby is born without an obvious gender, it is typical for the parents to select the gender in which a child is raised. The other gender parts are typically removed (although clearly not always, as he has kept his uterus) and hormone therapy is used to suppliment the missing hormones.

So anyway, this man (who kept his female parts) was inseminated and is now pregnant.


So he is legally male, but he has female parts. My personal feeling is that while calling him a pregnant man is technically correct, it's also misleading. Because this particular man has quite the unique set of circumstances.


So there you have it....the story of the pregnant man. This concludes installment one of "things I think everyone should know".

11 comments:

Sarah said...

So... Wow. Do he have a vagina also, or will he have to give birth via c-section?

Maggie said...

Nope, he's got all the female parts - vagina included.

I will be interested to hear reports of delivery/after delivery - which I am sure will be plentiful!

Unknown said...

okay - now i have to watch. how did he get...ya know, knocked up? i mean i know how it works, but was it a man or invitro - is he "together" with the daddy?? yep. have to tivo it....

jennwa said...

Wow! What an odd story.
There are somethings I am not sure I want to think about and a pregnant man (or a man with female parts) is one of them. But thanks for the info.

Brittany said...

Finally, a man can experience what we experience! lol

I already had my DVR set.... I am very very curious!

kim said...

I don't normally watch Oprah, but I may have to check it out tomorrow... interesting.

Christina said...

i never watch Oprah...but I think I'll have to tomorrow to hear more about this!

Anonymous said...

In Psych of Human Sex (great class to take over the summer in college) we had a guest lecturer who was in the reassignment process. He told us that if needed, he would carry his own child if there wasn't someone in his life and he decided that it was time. I have a lot of respect for that.

Thank you for being so informative today!

Stacy said...

OK....wierd!!

Kimberly said...

Maybe it's just me, but I think a whole lot of fuss is being made over nothing with the Beatie pregnancy. "He" was born a woman, so despite whatever surgery and hormone therapy he's had, he's technically still a woman having a baby. I guess "Pregnant Transgender" doesn't sell quite as well as "Pregnant Man" though.

My opinion aside, I didn't know you were an OB nurse. How did I get to be 38 weeks pregnant and not put that knowledge to good use?! ;-)

Arizaphale said...

I'm with Kimberley! Also, why have your gender reassigned if you're going to go and have a baby later. That just seems greedy to me :-D