Thomas Beatie, on the talk-show circuit, touted himself as “The Pregnant Man,” posing for photos with his beard and his pregnant belly, now wants a divorce,
placing a judge in an interesting position.
Beatie became a man in 2002, based on notes from his doctors, and shortly thereafter, he became a husband and a parent.
The Arizona Republic reports Maricopa County Superior Court judge is questioning his gender and the legitimacy of his marriage because, after being legally declared male, Beatie performed that most female of miracles: He gave birth to three children.
Judge Douglas Gerlach, is not certain he has jurisdiction. Arizona marriages, after all, are by law between a man and a woman. Same-sex marriage is forbidden, and the state of Arizona will not recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states.
” . . . [I]t appears that, by any reasonable standard, (Beatie) was the biological mother of those children at the times they were born. As such, parties’ marriage was between a female and a person capable of giving birth, who later did so,” wrote Gerlach. He asked the Arizona Attorney General’s Office for an opinion as to whether this was a valid marriage or a same-sex — and consequently invalid — marriage. The AG declined the invitation to weigh in.
Gerlach said he would reach a decision by early February.
