Thomas Beatie and his wife Nancy welcomed a baby girl into the world last Sunday. Beatie, a transgender man, made headlines in March when he announced he was pregnant.
Best wishes to the new family. May they have the privacy and peace their young one needs while they also continue to help shift attitudes. Kudos also to ABC News for referring to Beatie as a “new dad” in acknowledgment of his gender identity and stated parental role. (His wife said on Oprah that she would be the mother and Beatie the father.) The network’s phrase “Transgender Man Born a Woman” is less commendable, however. I don’t know how Beatie feels, but many trans folks I know see themselves as always having been the gender with which they identify, no matter what their body parts, hormones, and chromosomes might indicate. Best to avoid “born a …” phrasing unless the trans person in question uses it.