Labor of Love: The Story of One Man's Extraordinary Pregnancy | 
 enlarge | Author: Thomas Beatie
Publisher: Seal Press
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $10.39
You Save: $14.56 (58%)
New (37) Used (11) from $10.39
Avg. Customer Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 75749
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 280
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.5
ISBN: 1580052878
Dewey Decimal Number: 362.19820092
EAN: 9781580052870
ASIN: 1580052878
Publication Date: November 10, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Unused, Perfect Condition
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Product Description
Thomas Beatie electrified the world in April 2008 with his announcement that he was seven months pregnant and due to give birth in July. The news made headlines across the globe, but it’s only one chapter in a fascinating saga. Labor of Love reveals Beatie’s unique life experiences: his less-than-idyllic childhood in Hawaii, his feelings of being a young man trapped in the body of a woman, his fight to conceive a child, and the obstacles surrounding the delivery. This astonishing narrative permits an intimate look at a family that refuses to let other people’s definitions of family deter them from creating one on their own terms. Labor of Love is much more than the story of a unique pregnancy and birth — it’s a beautiful and controversial love story about going against the tide, a powerful statement about the evolution of family and identity in the new millennium.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 Extraordinarily honest December 26, 2008
What a surprising read. I remember hearing about this and being surprised, to say the least. Then I read more and thought "well, it's a woman living as man, kinda sorta, but it's a man... wow, that's confusing". I first will say that I think reproductive organs should, in fact, have some say in your gender, but at the end of the day, who really cares? If Thomas feels more like himself as a man, did it legally (pretty intense step for someone to take I would think), then more power to him. He isn't hurting anyone. His wife, Nancy, seems happy to be with him, his kids will only know that he loves them.
Do I agree with him? I dunno - but do I have to? Does it truly matter what you or I think? I have tremendous respect for he and his wife for talking about their unique circumstances. I would gladly shake his hand and consider him a good neighbor. He seems like a genuinely good guy who is trying to make his own way in the world, like the rest of us.
I was amazed at how well written this book was. I lived in Hawaii for several years in the mid-90s and he took me back there again, to the beaches, to the roads of Honolulu, to the outstanding beauty. But more than that, it felt honest. I never thought he was glossing over anything, not even about his own family. This was written from the heart with a lot of feeling.
My heart does go out to Thomas and Nancy, and I hope the hub bub of their recent announcement of another baby dies down quickly. I understand and respect their decision to go public, but I also worry about the crazy people in this world. Even people I consider friends have said things that made me do a double-take.
While I've always been ultra liberal, some of this story pushed even my own boundaries, but ya know... at the end of the day, it doesn't matter. He's happy, she's happy. What business is it of mine, really?
Give it a read, it did give me some unique insight into Thomas. An extraordinary story for sure.
 A Triumph of Love and Family December 21, 2008
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 November 25, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
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! November 23, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
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! November 4, 2008
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
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.
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