Friday, July 25, 2008

Pregnant man - Thomas Beatie's first picture of baby girl

Thomas Beatie, better known as the world’s first pregnant man, has sold a picture of his baby girl to an American magazine for a rumoured £150,000 ($300,000).


Thomas Beatie with his baby: The labour lasted 40 hours
Thomas Beatie with his baby: The labour lasted 40 hours Photo: GETTY IMAGES

Transgender Mr Beatie is shown cradling four-week-old Susan Juliette as she rests on a bed in the photo published on the front cover of the celebrity title People.

Wearing a white dress with purple and green detail and a large bow, the baby bears a striking resemblance to her father.

Susan Juliette was born at the St Charles Medical Center in Bend, Oregon on June 29 weighing 9lbs, 5oz, three months after news of her pioneering conception made headlines across the world.

"She's so precious, I just can't stop staring at her," Mr Beatie told the magazine, disclosing that the labour lasted 40 hours.

"When Susan finally came out, it was like in slow motion," he said. "I was full of wonder."

Mr Beatie, who was born a woman but is legally a man after undergoing partial sex change procedures ten years ago, fathered the child with sperm from an anonymous donor. He was able to do so because he had kept his reproductive organs.

His wife Nancy is breastfeeding the baby girl, using hormones and a breast pump to stimulate lactation.

But the couple have been criticised for embracing the publicity that their case has generated.

They have previously sold photos of Mr Beatie in the late stages of pregnancy to a British tabloid, and in April showed off his ultrasound scans during an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show.

Mr Beatie and his wife received around $300,000 from People for the baby photos, according to a magazine source quoted on the New York gossip website Gawker.

The sum, while substantial, is significantly less than is offered for the first photos of the babies of Hollywood A-list celebrities. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have reportedly sold images of their new-born twins for $11 million.

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