Thomas Beatie, the transgender trailblazer widely recognized as the first “pregnant man” nearly two decades ago, has voiced concern over what he sees as a fast-moving push toward life-changing gender-affirming care for young people.
Beatie, now 53 and the father of four, said he believes today’s climate could have led him to make different medical choices as a teenager — decisions he says might have prevented him from having the family he has now.
“I’m glad I’m not a teenager today because, If I were, I have a feeling I would have taken hormones at a young age and maybe had surgery much sooner and I would not have had the children that I have today,” Beatie told the Daily Mail.
“With so much ‘support’ however well-meaning, I would have thought, ‘Yes, this is what other people are doing, and this is what I’m going to do,’ without being mature enough to understand for myself what I really want,” he continued.
“When you’re younger you think you’ve got it all figured out, but you have to remember your brain isn’t really developed until you’re 25.”
Beatie also warned that some people may lose the chance to have biological children if they pursue medical interventions, including hormone treatments or puberty blockers, before fully considering the long-term consequences.
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“Everything changes, your outlooks, your desires, your goals, your ambitions… and if you’ve had puberty blockers and surgery in your teens, you’ve completely wiped away that option,” Beatie added.
Beatie, who was assigned female at birth and later underwent gender-affirming top surgery, became an international tabloid fixture in 2007 after images emerged showing him with a beard and a pregnant belly.
Beatie was dubbed the first “legally” pregnant man and later wrote an article for The Advocate about choosing to birth children as first wife, Nancy Beatie, was infertile after a hysterectomy.
Beatie gave birth in 2008, and the couple went on to have two more children before splitting in 2012. Beatie later had a fourth child with second wife Amber, who gave birth to a son in 2018.
“I never felt like a mother – I was a vessel bringing this life into the world,” Beatie told the outlet.
“That didn’t make me female. My role in society is, and was, as a husband and a father.”
Trans care for youth has been a controversial issue, with critics arguing children and teens are too young to move ahead with something so permanent while supporters believe the treatment helps handle gender dysphonia that could lead to mental health problems.
President Trump signed an executive order aimed at restricting gender transition procedures for patients younger than 19, but that measure has been temporarily blocked by federal courts.
