An Oregon man has given birth to a girl. Or at least a woman masquerading as a man and creating a media circus, complete with an appearance on Oprah Winfrey, has given birth. Thomas Beatie, born as Tracy Langondino in Hawaii, changed his/her gender 10 years ago. She had surgery to remove her breasts, and induced a wispy beard with male hormones. But she kept her reproductive organs intact, as she wanted to preserve her reproductive rights. Legally recognised as a man in Oregon, she is married to a woman called Nancy.

Becoming pregnancy was difficult, for medical and social reasons, but the birth was successful. She used sperm from a donor and artificial insemination at home. "The only thing different about me is that I can't breastfeed my baby,” she commented. "But a lot of mothers don't." A cable network is making a documentary about Thomas Beatie’s story: the "sad childhood, transgender issues as a teenager and how he became the first man in the world to give birth." ~ Guardian, July 5