An Arizona judge ruled Friday that a transgender man who birthed three children could not divorce his wife because there was insufficient evidence indicating that he was male when he and his wife wed, and therefore the nine-year union is invalid because Arizona does not recognize same-sex marriage.
Thomas Beatie sparked a media firestorm nearly five years ago when he became known as the “pregnant man” after he gave birth to a girl, the first child of three with his wife, Nancy Beatie.
Beatie was born a female but underwent transgender surgery to become a man, taking testosterone hormone supplements beginning in 1997 and undergoing a double-mastectomy in 2012, as well as undergoing psychological treatment for his change.
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Beatie, 39, kept his female reproductive organs and his womb, however, and decided to conceive his three children because his wife was reproductively-challenged.
The Beaties were married in Hawaii, which recognizes same-sex marriage, in 2003, and eventually relocated with their three children to Arizona.
Maricopa County Family Court Judge Douglas Gerlach ruled Friday that the Beaties could not divorce in the state of Arizona not because of Mr. Beatie’s transsexual lifestyle, but rather because the couple could not provide proper records to prove that Mr. Beatie was a man when he married his wife Nancy in Hawaii. You can read the rest here.
Interesting.
Check out the photos of the screening of The Undershepherd.
