The world's first "pregnant man" Thomas Beatie is fighting for a divorce in Arizona as he attempts to convince the state's court system that he and his wife aren't the same sex.
Thomas and Nancy Beatie are hoping to convince an Arizona judge to grant them a divorce after their marriage turned south last year, according to
3TV in Phoenix.
Before undergoing testosterone treatment in the late '90s and a double mastectomy and chest reconstruction by 2002, Thomas was known as Tracy.
He has been legally a man ever since, according to his lawyer David Michael Cantor.
“Once they said Thomas was a man, he could use that for any other purpose, passport, driver's license, [and] marriage license," Cantor said.
Because Nancy is infertile, Thomas kept his female reproductive organs and eventually bore the couple three children starting in 2008, becoming the first legally-married man to give birth.
Nevertheless, marital problems over the past year have driven the couple to seek a divorce.
The problem is “Arizona just doesn't have a body of law or authority to work off of,” according to Nancy’s attorney, David Higgins.
“Now we have to prove to the judge that we're man and woman, married, legally,” Nancy explained.
“What held the judge up is . . . he [Thomas] had children, he didn't sterilize himself,” said Cantor, Thomas' lawyer. But Cantor added, "Only 21 percent of female-to-male transsexuals actually get a hysterectomy. That means 80 percent keep their reproductive organs."
Court records indicate the judge has yet to be convinced because Thomas was, in fact, the biological mother when his children were born, according to 3TV.
However, the attorneys for the couple argue the law does not use a person’s internal childbearing organs to define an individual’s sex.
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