In 2008, Thomas Beatie gained worldwide attention for being the first legally male person to give birth. However, after the initial media frenzy, Beatie retreated from the public eye and currently lives a quiet life in Phoenix, Arizona with his wife and four children. He works as a stockbroker and enjoys spending time with his family.
Beatie met his wife, Amber, when she was working at the daycare center his children attended. Although Amber’s family joked about her falling in love with “the pregnant man,” she was initially unaware of Beatie’s notoriety. However, the couple quickly hit it off and have been happily married ever since.
Today, the idea of a transgender man giving birth is becoming more widely accepted, although there is still a long way to go in terms of education and awareness. In honor of Pride Month, Beatie spoke to TODAY Health about how he believes the trans community has benefited from the media attention his pregnancy garnered, and how his family is doing today.l
Beatie is content with his life and grateful for the love and support he has received from his family and community. His journey has helped to raise awareness about the experiences of transgender individuals, and he hopes that his story will continue to inspire others to live their lives authentically and fearlessly.
“When my story came out, there wasn’t a single person in the public eye as a transgender man — most people had never heard of it,” Beatie, 47, said. “This was pre-Chaz Bono. This was pre-Caitlyn Jenner. This was before anyone knew anything. It was a first exposure for a lot of people. And then on top of that, they can give birth! I think exposing the importance of fertility for trans people was a huge eye-opener.”
In 2008, after he wrote an essay for The Advocate about his pregnancy — a piece he wrote, he said, because he was desperately seeking advice from anyone who had been in his shoes, and fearful that his daughter would be taken away by authorities — Beatie’s story spread around the world. Photos of Beatie cradling his stomach — a bare, enlarged, pregnant stomach — achieved infamy. Requests for TV and magazine interviews rushed in. He wrote a book about his experience titled “Labor of Love,” became the subject of multiple TV specials and even went on to star in a French reality show.
“Everything was a whirlwind,” he said. “But I still don’t regret it.”
After having his first child, Susan, in 2008, Beatie went on to give birth to two more children with his then-wife, Nancy Beatie. The couple separated in 2012 and, in 2016, Beatie married his second wife, Amber Beatie, nee Nicholas, who worked at the day care his children had attended. They had a baby together in 2018, whom Amber gave birth to.
Today, Beatie and his family live a relatively quiet life in Phoenix, although Beatie occasionally takes on public-speaking jobs or small acting roles (maybe you saw him as an extra in a U-Haul commercial). His older children — now 11, 12 and 13 — split their time between his house and their mom’s house, about ten miles away. When they’re all home, they swim together in their pool, play checkers or test out new recipes.
