Pregnant and happy. The most contriverstial topic for most people. Wife Nancy and husband Thomas are a happily married couple who own a small business, live in a normal neighborhood and are expecting their first child. So, what's different? It's Thomas who's experiencing pregnancy. Now here's the catcher... Thomas who is Nancy's husband, was actually born a female. Thomas grew up in hawaii with two other brothers and had a tragic loss at the age of 12 when his mother passed away. As Thomas grew up (under the name Tracy don't forget) he started dating men (which is normal for most females) and felt he was sort of "forced into it". He felt like that is what normal society does. He dated his martial arts instructor for 3 years and felt it was a great reltaitonship, however he wanted more. He continued on his journey of life and started to attend college where he says "That's when I found myself, it was a process of self-discovery for me, and I ended up having my first girlfriend. We were together for three and a half years."
"It was difficult for society to respect me the way I felt on the inside if my outside didn't match it." Every morning as Tracy got up, she felt more and more like a man. Tracy stopped wearing women's clothing and began dressing in men's clothes. "I'm a masculine person, and I preferred wearing clothes that made me feel comfortable," The transition didn't take long, but over time people started to call her 'sir'. After looking into what it meant being transgender, Tracy discussed the subject with her first girlfriend. "She wasn't very supportive of the idea," He said. "I was discussing having a surgical procedure of removing my breasts, and she just said, 'Why can't you just be a lesbian?'" After the relationship took a dive, she deiced she would then speak to a physician, and decided afterward to start taking the male enhancing hormone 'testosterone', soon becoming Thomas.
Over a few years and many treatments, his voice became deeper and he was able to grow facial hair. The hormone treatments also altered his sexual organs. He says his clitoris grew to the size of a small penis. "It looks like a penis, I can have intercourse with my wife." he comments. In 2002 it was a big year for Tracy. The young women who was confused about her sexual orientation had plastic surgery to remove her breasts and legally became a man. The kicker.... Thomas still has his female reproductive organs. "I wanted to have a child one day," he says. "I didn't know how. It was just a dream." Which has now becoming a reality for him. When asked how he felt about being a male and having the desire for a child of his own he states "It's not a male or female desire to want to have a child…it's a human desire, I'm a person, and I have the right to have my own biological child."
After Tracy legally became a male and changed names to Thomas he and now wife Nancy got married and a few years later decided to attempt having a family. Nancy has two children with a previous husband and can not carry another child due to endometriosis. They attempted visits at many doctors offices and had many troubles finding a doctor to help them become pregnant. "We got rejected by our first doctor because he said that his staff felt uncomfortable working with someone like me." He says. The finally became pregnant and lost the first one due to the eggs fertilizing on the fallopian. On a miracle day in October of 2007, the finally accomplished their goal. Nancy and Thomas were pregnant for a second time and hopefully the last.
On an ultrasound it shows that Thomas is expecting a baby girl. At 24 weeks and five days along, Thomas learns that his little girl is perfectly healthy. "This is a miracle," Thomas says. "We see her as our little miracle." Dr. James who is caring for the new family says she has not been concerned about her reputation in dealing with this 'different' family. She hopes that people will see her as a normal doctor who is caring for a pregnant family.
After all, 'ultimately it is the family that chooses us' she says. Now you are probably asking about the baby's health right? Is she going to be normal? Will she turn out like Thomas? Will the fact that he is a female taking male testosterone affect her at all? No... he has normal hormone levels and the baby is as healthy as any baby from a normal pregnancy.
Now what does a pregnant man wear? Does he wear solid colour mo-mo's? Well he says for now he is wearing 'fat jeans' but its getting almost impossible to hide his baby bump from neighbours and friends. "Unfortunately, they don't make man-ternity clothes, so I'm kind of stuck. I have no idea what I'm going to wear in the future when I get bigger." He claims. (Does anyone know how to make men-ternity clothing?)
The two daughters Amber, and Jen feel they are very proud of Nancy and Thomas for their news of becoming pregnant and are excited to have a baby sister however "We're scared for them because I don't know that the world is all that prepared, but we're just regular, boring people and a regular family." Amber states.
So in his final comment Thomas states "Love makes a family, and that's all that matters."
What will the new day and agehold? Will it be filled of both men and women walking the streets with baby bumps? Will husbands and wifes be shopping for maturnity and man-turnity clothing together? Its an ineresting phase we go through and change is not always a bad thing. For now, its something we have to wrap our heads around before we can answer any more questions.
Well if you are expecting, here are a few links for you to look at!
Enjoy and Congrats to Nancy and Thomas!
http://www2.oprah.com/xm/bgreene/200702/bgreene_20070205.jhtml
http://www2.oprah.com/health/webmd/slide/health_pregnancy_superfood.jhtml
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