Nancy and Thomas Beatie on Oprah earlier this year.
Thomas Beatie has given birth to a baby girl! Nancy and Thomas welcomed their child earlier this week in Oregon. Thomas, a man who was born female, decided to keep his reproductive organs because he knew he wanted to have a child one day. Thomas and Nancy appeared earlier this year on Oprah, which has been one of the most memorable shows on television. While on Oprah, Thomas stated, ” I see pregnancy as a process and it doesn’t define who I am.”
That being said, I know for many, this has to be somewhat confusing as many of us define womanhood by the ability to have children. Throughout the years, I have heard women who could not bear children describe themselves as feeling like less of a woman, to which many people enthusiastically reply, “that doesn’t make you any less of a woman!” So I ask you, what does it mean to be a woman? Are those who can’t bear children or choose not to any less of a woman? Is being a mother the divine purpose for all born females?
To put this in even a broader context, what does this tell us about we feel about fatherhood? For many years fathers have been thought as emotionally detached disciplinarians. So, I ask, is that enough for you? Are we satisfied that only our women can serve as nurturers and caretakers of our children? In my opinion this is insulting to both genders, because this idea has latent messages buried deep within its language. If we are to believe this is true then that means that first, women are simply too emotional and not strong enough to be considered effective disciplinarians and secondly, that men are unable to be caring and empathetic caretakers. I can only hope that if this is how the majority presently feels about gender roles and parenting that we are making steps to progress toward a median where both men and women can be considered empathetic, nurturing, responsible and dutiful parents and maybe with the birth of the Beaties little girl we are taking a very important step on the path to true gender equity.
2 responses so far ↓
oneditorial // July 4, 2008 at 4:31 pm |
When I first heard the news, I thought it was very offbeat. In medical terms, I still do not understand how this couple managed to get pregnant. Who did he get the sperm from? Does that mean the child has two fathers? Anyway, I would like to congratulate them both for the baby.
prometheustherebel // July 4, 2008 at 5:31 pm |
I’m pretty sure they received the sperm from a sperm bank, so technically I guess one could say the child has two fathers, but I assume it’s unlikely that the donor father will be involved at all.