The Man Who Would Be Mum

So it’s begun. A man has given birth to a baby. June 29^th saw the birth of the first ever child born to a man. That is if we discount Arnold Swarzenegger’s efforts in the 1994 Hollywood film Junior. This particular immaculate conception has grasped the attention of the world’s media with a bidding war for the first photos of the child peaking at a whopping £250,000. The child’s father (or is it mother?) appeared on Oprah Winfrey’s talk show months before the birth and told the crowd that “it’s not a male or female desire to have a child it’s a human need” echoing Swarzenegger’s outcry in Junior; “My body my choice”.

Thomas Beatie was born a woman but undertook gender reassignment so as to marry his partner legally. The surgery meant he would have the legal status to marry but he took the conscious decision to keep the reproductive organs so as to hav e the opportunity to have a child in the future. After doctors refused to take the steps to inseminate Thomas his partner bought a DIY insemination kit and the couple undertook the process at home. 9 months on the 34 year old gave birth to a baby girl.