It’s been 13 years since the world learned that Thomas Beatie was the first man to become pregnant and deliver a child. Beatie, 47, now has four children and this is his second marriage. Beatie has spent his whole life trying to teach people about LGBTQIA+ issues, especially transgender fertility and reproductive rights.

Beatie started to identify as a male when he was 10 years old, and he officially came out in 1997. He had sex change surgery in March 2002. He had become pregnant via artificial insemination in 2007 since his wife, Nancy, was infertile at the time. Beatie later divorced in 2012, and she married Amber Nicholas in 2016.

Beatie made history in 2008 by being the first man to get pregnant and give birth, and he has since had two additional children. His life changed dramatically following the public disclosure of his pregnancy during an appearance with Oprah Winfrey. Since then, he has written personal articles and books about his experiences as a pregnant man, and the topic has been the subject of several TV shows and even a movie.

However, when more people learned about his history and continued to refer to him as the pregnant guy, Beatie had to cope with persistent media attention and misconceptions from random people. Beatie now lives a very calm life in Phoenix, Arizona, with his family, and has made it his goal to teach people about his experience.

According to History Of Yesterday, Beatie was born a girl and given the name Trace. However, he was never at ease with his body or sexuality, and he had no idea how to articulate his thoughts since the term “transgender” was fraught with stigma. As Beatie grew older and recognized that living in a woman’s body was not how he wanted to spend his life, he chose to become his true self.

Though it has been difficult for him to accept himself for who he is and to have the guts to live his life authentically, Beatie has paved the way for numerous transgender policies to become law. He started using his voice to help people who were being mistreated and misunderstood, and he has changed the lives of many people for the better.

Beatie opted to maintain his reproductive organs after his s’ex-reassignment surgery in 2002 because he knew he wanted to have a family in the future. Fortunately, he was able to conceive and have healthy children. This is not to say that his pregnancy journey was something he relished or embraced wholeheartedly.

Despite having been scheduled for a C-Section, his daughter arrived three days sooner and he had a vaginal delivery in 2008. Beatie even had two more children in 2009 before having a hysterectomy since he did not want to have any more children.

In addition, he has openly discussed his pregnancy in many interviews.

Beatie spoke with TODAY Health in June 2021 about his current life and how he feels the trans community benefited from the extensive media attention his pregnancy got.

“When my story broke, there wasn’t a single transgender guy in the public spotlight-most people had never heard of it,” Beatie said. “On top of that, they can give birth!” “Exploring the significance of reproduction for trans people was a tremendous eye-opener for me.”

Beatie had his first kid, Susan, in 2008, and went on to have two more with Nancy. According to TODAY Health, when the couple divorced, he married again in 2016 to Amber, who worked at the daycare where his children had gone. They had a child together in 2018, with Amber giving birth.

Beatie, on the other hand, hasn’t forgotten how the media depicted his pregnancy. He was labeled “the pregnant guy,” a moniker he has never been able to shake, and he had to cope with several misconceptions from strangers. He was often misgendered and misnamed. “It was incredibly difficult when my story got out,” Beatie said. “People were saying things on TV and in the media that if they said them now, they would be fired.”

Despite the criticism, Beatie is glad of his life and family. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being a pregnant guy,” Beatie said. “I was very pleased to be a father, and I am still proud to be a father.” I’m extremely happy to have been the one to bring my children into the world. It’s almost like a badge. ”