Matt Kailey

Like his children, stories about Thomas Beatie’s third pregnancy are popping out all over the place.

Although, regardless of what the press said, Beatie was not the first trans man to become pregnant or give birth, when his first pregnancy hit the media machine, I found myself mildly interested.

When he became pregnant a second time, it was old news.

Now he’s pregnant again, and the media people, for some reason, continue to act as if they’d never seen a pregnant trans man before. But they have — Thomas Beatie.

This is nothing against Beatie. It’s the media that wants to make something out of nothing. Give it a rest, people. Let the Beaties live their lives in peace. I’m sure Jessica Simpson is doing something that somebody cares about right now. Check that out instead.

While I know that there are some trans people — and some trans men in particular — who cringe every time a trans guy gets pregnant, it really doesn’t bother me that much (other than the fact that I truly believe that, in order to salvage this planet, parents need to replace themselves only and then stop — Beatie’s on number three, but so are a lot of people, so I can’t single him out as the poster boy for my overpopulation angst).

I know that some people worry that pregnant trans men make it difficult for the non-trans world to take us seriously, and that a baby-toting Beatie undermines the progress of our movement.

But as I’ve said before, it’s impossible to control the message. There are too many of us, with too many different messages and too many different experiences, to be managed. And the Internet, while being an incredible boon to trans people everywhere, has a tendency to spread sensationalism along with the newest social networking sites.

If we truly want the right to make decisions about our own body, then shouldn’t that right extend to everyone? To every body? It seems to me that it should.

And it also seems to me that, after three pregnancies, the media should move on. If the Beaties want to go another year without sleep (my sister was a sleep-deprived zombie for months after she had my nephew), I say that’s their business.

I’m yawning already.

What do you think?

(Photo: Thomas Beatie)