Labor of Love: The Story of One Man's Extraordinary Pregnancy

by Thomas Beatie

Book Overview

Thomas Beatie electrified the world in April 2008 with his announcement that he was seven months pregnant. He recounted his amazing story on The Oprah Winfrey Show, and was later featured in a Barbara... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1580052878
• ISBN13: 9781580052870
• Release Date: November 2008
• Publisher: Seal Press (CA)
• Length: 329 Pages
• Weight: 2.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.4" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A Triumph of Love and Family

Two things stand out in this book: the normality of the Beatie family, and "the system's" astonishing resistance to their desire for children. Normal? Sure. Thomas had a difficult childhood, but so do lots of people. Thomas became legally male by choice - slightly less common, but still a choice a lot of people make and succeed at. Thomas and Nancy love each other, built a marriage and a business together, and wanted children. In the second half of the book, we learn what happens when this all-American couple tries to have a child. There's one minor issue... well, it should have been minor. Thomas has female reproductive organs, and Nancy doesn't. So, with typical American make-it-work-ism, they decide that Thomas will carry their baby. This is the shocking part of the story: not the "pregnant man," but the reaction of institutions that should have supported this family, or at least remained neutral. Several doctors sabotaged their attempts to get donor sperm. Other health care professionals broke confidentiality, eventually forcing the Beaties to make their story public before people they cared about heard it from the rumor mill. Gay, lesbian, and transgender organizations withdrew support. Some Americans threatened them with death - though their neighbors were supportive. The story of the Beaties is simply heartwarming: a couple triumphs over a tragic childhood and technical difficulties to have a loving family and a baby. But the story of the reaction to them is uncomfortable reading. This book will make you think. I highly recommend it.

Excellent book - inspiring story

This is truly an inspiring story about real family values. Very well written it gives an insight of a man's journey to find his true identity, of a family fighting for the right to have a baby and society partly not being ready to accept the fact that "family" can be defined in more than one way. But more than anything else it is a book about love.

very good read!

I really connected with this book. I'm what you would call a "typical person" with a "typical family". But the story really inspired me to be more and taught me to appreciate people who are more. His journey and his perspective are both full of virtue and love. I simply couldn't put it down.

Amazing!

This book will surprise you with its depth of humanity and inspiration. The story is captivating and well told- an excellent read. There's so many details in this book not previously known to the public. A lot of people will see themselves in Thomas. At the core of it, his story is universal in his fight for love and family.

Labor Of Love by Thomas Beatie

What a great book! I had previously seen the Oprah episodes featuring this extraordinary family and was attracted to reading this bio once it passed into my hands because of the medical anomally the pregnancy's circustances created. In that respect I got my money's worth, but I also discovered a more humanistic theme throughout the book. There is probably no other family in the world like this one, but Thomas Beatie creates a story that tells about universal struggles which all people face, whether they be straight, gay, transgender, young, old, male or female. To me, it is the story of a person's desire to have a family in their vision and to live their life boldly, no matter what opposition there may be and to inspire others to do the same. Labor of Love: The Story of One Man's Extraordinary Pregnancy