Things to Know About the Pregnant Man

Filed under: Male Pregnancy - 28 Jun 2012  | Spread the word !

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If you think you have seen it all, then you are wrong. How about a pregnant man? There are already cases of men giving birth. As weird as it may seem, it is possible, with a lot of medical intervention nonetheless. Two male pregnancy stories stand out because of recent media exposure. Thomas Beatie is the more popular, but not necessarily the more controversial. Beatie was biologically born a woman, but he defines himself as a man. Since he has the biological make up necessary to conceive and carry a baby, his story about becoming pregnant as a man is of great controversy. Many sceptics assert that Beatie is not really a man, thus making the story a hoax.

The question whether it is possible for a man to be pregnant gets a surprising answer with the help of science. Another case of male pregnancy is the one of Lee Mingwei. Biologically, he was born a man. So, no uterus there. He claimed that he never wanted to become a female nor does he have any inclination to have male to female reassignment surgery. He just wanted to be part of an experiment. Many researchers from the scientific community have divided opinions. On one hand, some of them are actually glad this experiment took place. On the other hand, others are very reluctant about it. They know for sure that the female body is designed to have babies. It is the natural thing to happen, while men just provide the genetic material, so to speak.

The experiment itself is very risky because a foetus is implanted in the abdomen area of the man, where the uterus should be, thus inducing an ectopic pregnancy. If the foetus develops properly and there are no severe illnesses or other abnormalities, then the baby is delivered by Cesarean section. There are may risks when it comes to the delivery, since the placenta can stick to the other vital organs in the abdomen area. If we define gender as something psychological, then we can assert that Beatie is a man by definition, especially after the surgery. One can assume that many women who had babies defined themselves as males. Additionally, if we define gender as biological state, then Migwei would be the first pregnant man to date since has a male anatomy.

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The Science of Male Pregnancy

Filed under: Uncategorized - 10 Jun 2012  | Spread the word !

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You might think that male pregnancy is something that belongs to science-fiction, but scientists are now making progress in this respective. In the near future, the pregnant man will be the one carrying the child. In the years since the first test tube baby was born in 1978, physicians and scientists from RYT Hospital have been working to develop a viable technique for the successful impregnation of male individuals. Male pregnancy is still in the experimental stage and will not be available to the public in the immediate future.

In vitro fertilisation techniques were used to induce an ectopic pregnancy by implanting an embryo and placenta into the abdominal cavity, just under the peritoneum. Lee Mingwei will be the first human male to ever birth a baby from his own body. He underwent several steps before being implanted the embryo. Oral doses of female hormones were administered to Lee Mingwei to make him receptive to the pregnancy. IVF techniques were used to induce an ectopic pregnancy by implanting an embryo and placenta into the abdominal cavity, just under or into the peritoneum. There is a severe risk of massive haemorrhage when the ectopic ruptures. This is also the most common cause of women dying in pregnancy. 

Once implantation was complete, Mr. Lee stopped taking hormones, because the pregnancy itself, as expected, took over. The embryo secretes sufficient hormones to maintain its own growth and development. The duration of the pregnancy has been normal. Mr. Lee was kept under constant surveillance. The delivery will be made by means of Caesarean section to remove the baby and the placenta. Removal of the placenta is the real danger because it forms such intimate connections with the surrounding vessels that massive haemorrhage is likely. Implantation may have also involved other structures in the abdomen, including the bowel and it is possible that parts of other organs may need to be removed. The scientific community is very reluctant to this new discovery. Most of them are against, since they say that women are the only ones who can carry a pregnancy under normal conditions. Moreover, the concept of ectopic implantation and pregnant man, while theoretically plausible, has never been attempted and would be difficult to justify, even for women lacking a uterus, owing to the extreme health risks to both the parent and the child.

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