Hawaiian native Thomas Beatie, formerly a woman who underwent gender reassignment surgery but retained his reproductive organs, is now expecting a child. Mazeltov! May you only know simchas.
I can only imagine the nachos of raising a daughter, marrying her off to this genius and then finding this story breaking out across the globe. (The Australian Herald Sun has pictures of Thomas posing for a gay magazine during the process.)
I’d have my daughter around to the vet and spayed about 10 minutes after hearing the “wonderful news”. Let her husband have the children; she has more important things to do — like converting to Islam so that she can wear that outfit that covers her from head to toe and includes sunglasses!
Can you imagine those yentas at bar mitzvahs and weddings? “Mike! Robyn! I didn’t know your daughter was Muslim, how wonderful! Where’s her husband?”
“He’s out there somewhere finding himself — preferably before I do!”
Joking aside, products of the advances in science and medicine are going to make this type of event far more frequent in the months and years ahead. Whether you are prepared to accept it or not, it will become a reality. Five years from now, male pregnancy might even be considered tame.
A few days ago we looked at the British Parliament introducing the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill.
This is being proposed in order to catch up with the existing research as well as facilitating future studies. In essence, HG Wells’s man-beast may not be as far away as we would like to think: sitting up on Saturday nights praying that your daughter is out with a human — or am I becoming speciesist?
Again I would like to ignore the religious, moral, ethical and assorted other mumbo-jumbo and hear what you lot think about the dawning of this new age and how we are all going to feel when Brunhilda the half-human half-dog, a native of Cleveland — previously a woman, now a male bull mastiff with her reproductive organs intact — becomes pregnant. Do we celebrate, have her spayed or simply have him/her/it put down?
When we say that he/it is expecting a child, does that mean expecting to give birth, expecting a human or simply expecting … something? Would people be outraged at the insensitivity of saying “expecting a child” and consider it an affront to the bull- mastiff community, which was hoping for a puppy?
Would a Jewish male, half cocker-spaniel, have a bar mitzvah? If so, when? Counted in dog or human years? If it’s dog years, you’ll battle because he’ll be 14 after two years, so you might miss it. If it’s human years and he ages like a dog, he’ll look like a 91-year-old while saying his portion!
Hang on to your broeks; this could get ugly.
yea, the end of mankind as we know it. Certainly I see a new breed of man occuring but not as a hybrid but something more intelligent as scientists and the rich search for the perfect offspring as child might be the wrong word here.
So many lines got crossed and uncrossed here, it’s not funny.
Here is a woman who wanted to be a man but didn’t have the courage to go ‘ALL THE WAY’. Took enough male hormones to grow a beard but never got his/her ‘woman thingies’ removed. Now on the remote situation that his/her wife couldn’t conceive, hey presto he/she remembers that he/is still got her/his ‘woman thingies’. Knocks him/herself up and wallah, a child is born.
I tell you, this story sounds like this Thomas Beatie character is a publicity prostitute MAXIMIZING a PR situation. The unfortunate thing is, how do you even start explaining anything to the poor child when they reach age of understanding?
Freedom is a good thing but some ‘freedoms’ should be limited. Because the other name for it is anarchy.
Hold onto your horse Traps – its not male pregnancy, its a case of ‘lady looks like a dude’, to twist the Aerosmith lyrics.
LOL. There is a uniquely Capetonian (South African) angle on this story at http://informd.blogspot.com/2008/03/thems-child-bearing-hips-mister.html .
Personally, I think it is ridiculous.
Trapps … Did I read correctly? ….You were actually joking?
Surely you really meant to say you were going to offer him/her/it an amnesty – or even perhaps a pardon for this dastardly crime.
I really enjoyed this blog — one of the wonderful things about advances in science and technology is that we are provided with a whole lot more material for jokes — Jewish and otherwise. Thanks for this .. just when my day was feeling dreary …
End of mankind indeed! What is this world coming to??????????????????
You know it dose not matter what you call her. A woman a man a it..Bottom line its still a{woman}having the BABY !! You cant blame that innocent child. I do hope the child don’t grow up being teased all its life. What I would like to know will all those pills she took to become a Fake Man. Hurt the baby? After all the sperm that got her pregnant…CAME FROM A REAL MAN….
People are so insensitive sometimes. There are loads of things to joke about. And the question “what is the world coming too?” should really be left for the people who are gang raping kids. People have their priorities upside down.
So what if a women has had male hormones and looks like a guy and then decides to have a baby. He might be a man, but technically speaking he is a woman and carries everything that “make” one a woman.
And this excuse about kids getting bullied and teased is not a solid reason not to have in a non traditional. It is the responsibility of all parents to make sure their kids don’t isolate other kids because they are “different”. The people who are writing on this blog are the ones who raise ignorant, racist and homophobic kids by always saying “it must be the end of the world.” The previous generation spoils the next. That’s just how it’s been. People need to grow up.
What a selfish thig to do by bringing a child into the mix of an abomination, the woman “man” should be ashamed of herself. Let’s get one thing straight she born a woman and will always be a woman and no operation can change that, it is a gift from GOD for you to be what you are born to be and that was a woman. no if and or buts.
If the mother were Jewish then the offspring can be barmitvah. And as the mother was human the offspring’s age will be in human years. It needs a Midrash to determine.Like if my Aunt had had testes she would have been my Uncle.
He is not a man, and she will never be one. Being a man is not only body features only God determines.
Everyone here is being off key. Number one its not your business, and besides the point its still a woman having a baby. If a REAL man has a baby then there might be something to talk about. But all this is a woman who really wanted to be a man. That is not so bad. Lets look in to other problems in the world such as starvation and human rights as long as animal rights first.