Louise Brown has made a life apart from being an in vitro baby.

Even the Dionne Quintuplets and their successors weren't automatically recognized when seen as individuals.

After the media isn't there to put the labels on,people tend to be known for what they make of their lives themselves rather than any notoriety created by outside circumstances.

Writer Anne Perry even left behind a murder conviction she received as a child to make a new life for herself as a productive adult.

We can be much more about our todays and tomorrows than we are about our origins.

They used to insist that people undergoing sex reassignment surgery give up their ability to have a natural birth.

Wanting that biological child was seen as a lack of committment to the new gender.

I wonder how the people told that they couldn't keep their organs (or even stockpile sperm and ova) feel about being denied the option this parent has.

Does it matter how this child is brought into the world?

(Virgin births aren't the norm,either.)

Whether a child starts out in a transgendered body,a Petri dish,or a regular pregnancy and whether it is raised by its biological parents,adopted parents or what,it needs to be loved and raised to be a healthy,happy,functional person.

This year,two men hope to be giving birth to such youngsters.

One began life as a woman. One didn't.

God willing,both pregnancies will result in more than headlines about a medical oddity.

Underneathe the sensationalism,there will be exploration of the nature of fatherhood.

There will be research into using this technology to assure that every child conceived has a chance at a fulfilling life.

But,before anyone declares these children abombinations,they must answer this:

How are these babies' souls less than anyone elses?

Laura,

I tend to agree with you. If the transgender individual wants to live as and be recognized as a man, that's his choice and I don't have any problem with that. But biologically, this birth isn't really anything new because the person carrying the baby is not biologically a man.

I'm not trying to deny anyone the ability to decide for themselves what their gender identity is, I'm just pissed at the media for focusing on stuff like this rather than letting people live their lives in peace (though to be fair, this couple didn't have to go on TV or be in magazines). I mean, there's a war on. There's a presidential race going on. I should think there are more important things to cover than a person being pregnant.

quantumcat,

I...sort of don't get your comment. No one is saying this baby will be an abomination. The media is going to only see this baby as "the baby given birth to by a man." That's a tough row to hoe for a kid, and will probably influence how she lives her life. She should be left alone to be raised by her parents and to live her own life out of the media spotlight.

Cfrich . . . have you been reading the blogs of that person we love to talk about that relates to this issue? Craziness for sure.

I don't know what to think about this . . . I just think it's wrong to make such a public spectacle about it because the child is going to have to deal with the stigma that comes from it all. It kind of doesn't seem fair to the child.

I just don't know . . . I am sure Oprah did it because it shows she is with current hot topics and issues plus it gives her show some trendy buzz (like she really needs it though). Who knows, it might be some part of an agenda to show how all gay people are freaks and abnormal. You just never know with the media.

So, technically, biologically and any other way you want to look at it, it's not really a man having a baby after all......it's a woman, and "women" have been doing it since the beginning! and ("he" is a woman) I think it's just a way for them to make some money.

jkelley, if they are in it for the money they must have forgotten the first thing you learn when it comes to new babies.....say bye bye to all your extra money!

cfrich, I'm sure they'll get their share (if not more) of money I just hope that's not the ONLY reason they have made it this public. Afterall, you can't just give the kid back when it's not fun or profitable anymore. I may be in the minority here but I just really don't see the big deal, it's a woman with a mustache having a baby! My great grandma had a mustache and 12 babies....Oprah never called! =)

I haven't seen the episode, Oprah is on before I get off work. I did see the pictures of the "pregnant man" and really they didn't impress me. I can understand even a person with gender identity issues would still want to have their own baby if possible, I just can't imagine making this big a deal of it. As for the baby and future issues, well who knows, if the media attention is always there the child may never care. Perhaps it will just be a neat story this child tells all his/her friends.

quantumcat - so the guy you linked to is really a man, like he was biologically born that way? weird.

"Will the birth be broadcasted live over the Internet? Mr. Lee has become increasingly uneasy with the enormous media attention his pregnancy is attracting."

"Why does the live image appear to repeat occasionally? A cameraman follows Mr. Lee 24 hours a day (he is also accompanied by a small group team of physicians, researchers, and nurses)."

Can't have it both ways....I'll admit this is wayyyy more to be shocked about than the other, I'm shocked b/c of the massive amount of danger! Why would you do that to yourself? If my dr thought for one second that a pregnancy was ectopic it would have to be taken care of! I realize no man has ever died due to ectopic pregnancy or the complications those can bring about but there is a first time for everything!

Mr. Lee and the baby are in serious danger, they could both die, quick, fast & in a hurry! Do I feel sorry for him? No, he surely knew full-well how dangerous this was gonna be. This baby is the one I feel for, just because of the danger and the fact that the baby may possibly die due to his actions.

I think if you will check you will find that this (Mr. Lee's pregnancy) is a hoax/urban legend. As is the entire web site where the information comes from.

And scummy.

I'd think that such an event could occur but the legitimate medical community would accomplish it before the hype artists.

That said,the attention addicts might well rush in where medical ethics boards would fear to tread.

(Hence the fears about cloning,genetic manipulation,"patented" human genes,etc.)

As I look further at the site,it is an obvious spoof.

(You'll find head transplants listed as one of their services.)

They don't list a physical address or other dull,boring real life stuff a hospital's page would have.

Still,for a minute there, (until I made a closer examination of the site) , I was cynical enough to wonder if the same kind of folks who sell yuppified snake oil had found a way to get free advertising by attempting a risky procedure.

When the sort of advances Mr. Lee's case is supposed to involve actually occur,I'd think the genuine doctors would treat the matter with discretion and a lot more academic professionalism than the site I posted has.

But,who knows?

Maybe,a future tabloid talk show wrangle will be about which of a woman's boyfriends will carry her next baby.