A baby bump straining his T-shirt and sporting a straggly beard, this is the world's first pregnant man - just over six weeks from giving birth.
A baby bump straining his T-shirt and sporting a straggly beard, this is the world's first pregnant man - just over six weeks from giving birth.
Thomas Beatie, 34, looked relaxed as he trimmed his lawn in Oregon, USA, wearing a top with the slogan Define Normal.
Married Thomas, born a woman, claimed he was like any mum-to-be and said: "To neighbours, my wife and I don't appear unusual."
He added: "Wanting to have a child is neither a male nor female desire, but a human desire."
Doing the household chores when your baby's due in a few weeks can prove exhausting work.
And, grass trimmer in hand and baby bump proudly on display, this could be just another suburban mum-to-be tending to the lawn - were it not for the wispy, telltale beard.
But the world's first pregnant man, Thomas Beatie, is determined to portray an air of everyday normality, even though he is set to create history when he gives birth in six weeks.
Despite worldwide shock, curiosity and revulsion, married transsexual Thomas, 34, insists he is little different from any other expectant mother and has said: "I always feel so bloated.
"Unfortunately there is no such thing as man-ternity clothes."
He added: "To our neighbours, my wife Nancy and I don't appear in the least unusual. We're a happy couple deeply in love. My belly is growing with a new life inside me. I am stable and confident being the man that I am."
And as he trimmed the grass in Bend, Oregon, US, he proclaimed his determination for acceptance in a T-shirt bearing the slogan, Define Normal. The weightlifter and karate black belt insists his pregnancy has been trouble-free and so routine that he has even had food cravings, for soya beans and artichokes.
Thomas was born a woman, Tracy Lagondino, and was once a Hawaiian beauty queen.
He had a partial sex change 10 years ago, receiving hormone treatment and having his breasts removed. But he kept his female reproductive organs so he and Nancy, 45, who had a hysterectomy in the 80s, could have children.
His pregnancy first made world headlines in March. Days later he was quizzed by US chatshow queen Oprah Winfrey while having a scan.
Thomas, inseminated by his wife using an anonymous donor's sperm, is due to have a baby girl on July 3. He knows, however, that he faces an almost lifelong battle for acceptance from the public and even his own family.
When he became pregnant with triplets two years ago but lost them his brother said: "Who knows what kind of monster it would have been?" But Thomas has vowed to defy the hatred with the support of Nancy and her grown-up daughters Amber and Jen.
He said: "Wanting to have a biological child is neither a male nor female desire but a human desire. I will be my daughter's father and Nancy her mother.
"We will be a family."
JUST LIKE ANY MOTHER-TO-BE
By Dr James Barrett, Consultant psychiatrist
Thomas's pregnancy will be just like any woman's, except he won't be able to breastfeed the baby.
Although legally male, Thomas appears to have kept his reproductive organs, making it possible for him to carry a child.
For his sex change he would have had a mastectomy and received testosterone injections to bring on male characteristics. In the UK we give patients a testosterone jab every month for life
It normally takes three months for the testosterone to have an effect and for periods to stop - making it impossible to get pregnant. Within six months, the patient will start to look like a man, and within a year he will be speaking with a deep voice and have the traits of a man.
What's interesting is that Thomas was able to re-start his periods after stopping the testosterone injections.
It's uncommon for the female hormone oestrogen to return and for the person to ovulate again - let alone fall pregnant.
It is also highly unusual for a woman who has undergone a sex change to become a man to actually WANT to get pregnant. Psychologically they usually wouldn't want to as that's something women do.
This is a highly unusual case - the first time I've heard of such a thing in 20 years of practice.
Dr James Barrett works at the National Gender Identity Clinic in Charing Cross
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