Labor of Love: The Story of One Man's Extraordinary Pregnancy [Hardcover]

Thomas Beatie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 4, 2008

Thomas Beatie electrified the world in April 2008 with his announcement that he was seven months pregnant and due to give birth in July. The news made headlines across the globe, but it’s only one chapter in a fascinating saga. Labor of Love reveals Beatie’s unique life experiences: his less-than-idyllic childhood in Hawaii, his feelings of being a young man trapped in the body of a woman, his fight to conceive a child, and the obstacles surrounding the delivery. This astonishing narrative permits an intimate look at a family that refuses to let other people’s definitions of family deter them from creating one on their own terms. Labor of Love is much more than the story of a unique pregnancy and birth — it’s a beautiful and controversial love story about going against the tide, a powerful statement about the evolution of family and identity in the new millennium.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Best known as the world's first pregnant man, transgendered father and husband Beatie recounts, in touching detail, his difficult path to the 2007-08 pregnancy that briefly captured the world's attention. Born a girl in Hawaii to a violent, unpredictable father and a caring mother (who committed suicide while Beatie was a teen), Beatie learned to understand the nature of his identity against a backdrop dominated by fear and instability. Beatie is a detailed and engaging writer, relating his upbringing, his romance (with wife Nancy) and the process of transitioning from female to male with humility, honesty and plenty of opinion, and little to court sensation or controversy. For better and worse, the memoir reads predictably until Beatie and Nancy, 200 pages in, begin their struggles to get pregnant with daughter Susan. Once Beatie finds his focus in the obstacles he and his wife faced and overcame, his account becomes a compelling, unique narrative. Beatie's straightforward, apolitical style and compelling, elemental story-one man's struggle, against all odds, to create a family-will make it easy for most readers to identify.
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From Booklist

Hawaii-born Thomas Beatie and his wife, Nancy, “are just like any other married couple,” except that he is the first legally defined male to become pregnant and give birth. Born female, tomboy Tracy took testosterone to build muscle mass and chose surgical breast removal in his twenties but not the surgical construction of a penis, nor removal of the female reproductive organs needed to bear a biological child, the author’s heart’s desire. Hawaii requires only two conditions for legal gender change: a medical doctor’s letter attesting to a legitimate psychological reason for the gender switch and irrevocable gender-altering surgery. Thus, the onetime lesbian woman could marry Nancy as her husband and carry their child since Nancy had had a hysterectomy. After an abusive childhood with a rageaholic  father (who still refuses to acknowledge his granddaughter) and an ill-fated relationship with an alcoholic, Beatie sought, above all, a close, caring family and finds in his new life “the heart that I call home.” An unforced, unpretentious, and very readable account, sure to draw attention. --Whitney Scott

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 280 pages
• Publisher: Seal Press (November 4, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580052878
• ISBN-13: 978-1580052870
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #649,718 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #51 in Books > Gay & Lesbian > Biographies & Memoirs > Transgender

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinarily honest, December 26, 2008

By 

Candy Beauchamp "CandyTX" (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Labor of Love: The Story of One Man's Extraordinary Pregnancy (Hardcover)

What a surprising read. I remember hearing about this and being surprised, to say the least. Then I read more and thought "well, it's a woman living as man, kinda sorta, but it's a man... wow, that's confusing". I first will say that I think reproductive organs should, in fact, have some say in your gender, but at the end of the day, who really cares? If Thomas feels more like himself as a man, did it legally (pretty intense step for someone to take I would think), then more power to him. He isn't hurting anyone. His wife, Nancy, seems happy to be with him, his kids will only know that he loves them.

Do I agree with him? I dunno - but do I have to? Does it truly matter what you or I think? I have tremendous respect for he and his wife for talking about their unique circumstances. I would gladly shake his hand and consider him a good neighbor. He seems like a genuinely good guy who is trying to make his own way in the world, like the rest of us.

I was amazed at how well written this book was. I lived in Hawaii for several years in the mid-90s and he took me back there again, to the beaches, to the roads of Honolulu, to the outstanding beauty. But more than that, it felt honest. I never thought he was glossing over anything, not even about his own family. This was written from the heart with a lot of feeling.

My heart does go out to Thomas and Nancy, and I hope the hub bub of their recent announcement of another baby dies down quickly. I understand and respect their decision to go public, but I also worry about the crazy people in this world. Even people I consider friends have said things that made me do a double-take.

While I've always been ultra liberal, some of this story pushed even my own boundaries, but ya know... at the end of the day, it doesn't matter. He's happy, she's happy. What business is it of mine, really?

Give it a read, it did give me some unique insight into Thomas. An extraordinary story for sure.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful personal story that articulates difficult and important social questions, April 4, 2011

By 

anita-in-pdx - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Labor of Love: The Story of One Man's Extraordinary Pregnancy (Paperback)

On one level, this is the story of a loving couple and their journey through pregnancy. On another level it broaches some really important legal and medical questions about how we see ourselves, our gender, and others who are different from us. Our cultural institutions enforce some fierce dichotomies when it comes to gender and sexuality: male/female, gay/straight, married/single--but what happens to people who don't fit neatly within the lines, either physiologically or psychologically? A strong community supports the pursuit of liberty and happiness in all of its members--not just the ones who can comfortably and honestly check the "correct" boxes. This book leads us to consider the most personal of personal identity questions in a frank and reasoned way--by a humble and gracious author whose strength of spirit is an inspiration.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, very inspiring!, April 5, 2009

By 

E. amador "E.W.A." (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Labor of Love: The Story of One Man's Extraordinary Pregnancy (Hardcover)

I just finished this book and I loved it. It was very interesting from beginning to end. He writes about his childhood, his family and on up until he has the baby. I can't believe what a bad childhood he had, but at the end, it made him who he was and now he'll be one of the best fathers out there. This book made me cry at times, and I don't usually cry that much. But knowing this is a true story, you can't help but feel for him.
I saw Thomas and Nancy on Oprah and People magazine. I always supported them and couldn't understand why people had such a problem with them wanting a baby. I am very happy for them and am very proud that they didn't let society's negativity stop them from fulfilling their dream of starting a family.
I highly recommend this book if you like true stories that are different and are about people facing huge obstacles, but somehow finding a way to get through them. Nancy and Thomas are so brave and I wish them nothing but the best.