Thomas Beatie, the transgender pioneer known for being the first “pregnant man” nearly 20 years ago, has blasted the rush for life-altering gender-affirming care for minors.
Beatie, now 53 and a parent of four children, said that the current trend to rush such procedures would have made it impossible to start a family 18 years ago, having waited till adulthood for such surgery.
“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,” Beatie 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 made clear that others will never be able to start families of their own if they rush to surgeries and hormone treatments, such as puberty blockers.
“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,” the parent added.
Beatie – born a female before undergoing gender-affirming top surgery – became a tabloid sensation in 2007 after photos surfaced showing the parent-to-be 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.