Man confirms birth of healthy girl after IVF

AMERICAN Thomas Beatie, a transsexual who was born a woman, but now lives as a man has confirmed he has given birth to a baby girl.

Beatie went into labour early on Thursday and had to be rushed to hospital.

The 34-year-old kept his female reproductive organs when he legally became a man 10 years ago following hormone treatment.

His baby girl was conceived through artificial insemination using donor sperm and Beatie’s own eggs. Yesterday, Beatie said his newborn was “healthy and doing well”.

He added: “The only thing different about me is that I can’t breast-feed my baby. But a lot of mothers don’t.”

Beatie, who was born Tracy Lagondino and lived in Hawaii, caused a media storm when he first announced he was pregnant.

He claimed the reason for his sexual transformation was because he had fallen in love with his now wife Nancy, 46. Under Hawaiian law the couple was unable to have a same-sex marriage so Beatie decided to undergo a sex change. He began a course of hormone treatment and had surgery to remove mammary glands and to flatten his chest.

Two years ago, Beatie halted his bimonthly hormone injections and resumed menstruating in a bid to have a child.

His wife, whom he married five years ago, was unable to conceive because of a prior hysterectomy. She has two grown daughters by a previous marriage.

The new family has been discharged from hospital in Bend, Oregon.