'Pregnant Man' awarded sole custody of three children from estranged wife(FOTOS)

‘Pregnant man’ Thomas Beatie has been granted sole custody of his three children, an Arizona court decided in a temporary order.
Beatie, a transgender man who made headlines four years ago when he became pregnant, will have full rights over his children, while his estranged wife Nancy will only get supervised visitation while they divorce.
The Arizona couple had been married nine years, and announced their divorce last month.

A father's love: Beatie, who gave birth to their three children, Susan, Austin and Jensen (pictured yawning), won temporary sole custody of them as he is divorcing his wife, Nancy

'Violent': In a still from the footage allegedly captured by Thomas Beatie, known as the Pregnant Man, his wife Nancy lunges at him in a violent fit of rage. It is expected to be used in their divorce battle

'Alcoholic': At the start of the footage, obtained by TMZ, Nancy is seen passed out on the playroom floor

Thomas said he was ‘very pleased’ at the court’s decision, adding: ‘I hope that Nancy continues to seek the treatment and that, in time, she will be able to effectively parent.’
The custody battle is also noteworthy in that the state – which bans gay marriage – recognised a transgender one.
His attorney, David Michael Cantor, said in a statement: 'Mr Beatie is thrilled that this Court has recognized that a transgender marriage is a valid marriage under Arizona law. Hopefully, this case will help pave the way for other State’s valid marriages to be recognized in the divorce courts of Arizona.'

 

Last month, startling footage recorded by Beatie apparently captured his estranged wife violently attacking him, mishandling their children and destroying their computer.
The video, taken before the breakup earlier this year, shows Beatie entering the playroom in his Arizona home to find his wife Nancy passed out - with one of their children clamoring over her.
When she wakes up, she grabs her daughter and drags her into the kitchen as the youngster squirms to escape, the footage obtained by TMZ shows.
Nancy, who was a bodybuilder when the couple met, turns her anger on her husband. She smacks him across the head with a cushion - becoming increasingly violent with each blow.
With the children crying in the background, she then picks up the family laptop and starts towards her husband with the device held high above her head.
'Stop it! Why are you doing this?' Beatie is heard pleading as the children screech. 'It's my computer,' she responds. 'F*** you!'

Irate: When she wakes up, Nancy is immediately annoyed and drags their squirming daughter to the kitchen

She then starts for the patio doors, threatening to throw the computer into the swimming pool. 'Don't do it!' Beatie cries, beginning to sob. 'Why is she doing that?' the children ask.
Nancy then proceeds to bash the computer against a rock before tossing it into the pool as her children whimper and Beatie sobs uncontrollably.
The footage comes after Beatie claimed last month that Nancy, his wife of nine years, was a violent alcoholic who would attack him in the night and once punched him in the crotch in front of the kids.
In February, when he tried to stop Nancy, who was 'visibly intoxicated', from driving their children to daycare, she started swearing at him and pushed him, he claimed in divorce papers seen by TMZ.

The couple is due back in court on Wednesday to reach custody and child support arrangements.
Earlier this year, Beatie revealed on show Doctors that he and his wife were separated, at the same time he announced he had undergone his final gender reassignment surgery.
'Nancy hasn’t seen the new me yet,' he said. 'Like all marriages, we have our ups and downs, and we’re going through a rough patch right now. At the moment, we’re separated.'
Mr Beatie was born as a woman, Tracy Lagondino, in Hawaii in 1974, but says he always felt like he wanted to be a man.
When he was in his 20s he began having testosterone injections, giving him facial hair, a lower voice and altering his sexual organs.

Unhappy household: Beatie claimed his wife Nancy, pictured, was an 'abusive alcoholic' in divorce papers

'Domestic violence': Beatie, pictured left with daughter Susan and right with Nancy and their son Austin, claims his estranged wife hit him in front of the children. She has denied the allegations

The couple met shortly after Beatie began taking the testosterone. Nancy is 11 years older than him and has two teenage daughters, Amber and Jen, from a previous marriage.
But at the age of 28 she had a hysterectomy because of severe endometriosis - where cells from the lining of the womb are found elsewhere in the body - so she couldn’t have any more children. The couple married in Hawaii in 2003.

GENDER REASSIGNMENT SURGERY

• Involves construction of a penis through either a phalloplasty or metoidoplasty
• A phalloplasty involves taking a skin graft from the forearm, chest or leg and extending the ueretha. A penis can then be created
• An implanted erectile prosthesis is used in a phalloplasty to allow the patient to achieve an erection.
• A metoidoplasty involves surgically moving the enlargened clitoris transgendered men experience through testosterone treatments.
• Although not comparable in size or dimensions to a phalloplasty a prosthesis is not needed to achieve erection and sexual stimulation is usually retained.
• In both operations a scrotoplasty is used to create a scrotum.
• The labia is reordered into an approximation of a scrotum and silicone testicles are inserted

Thomas had already had a mastectomy to remove his breasts, and hormone treatment that gave him an outwardly male appearance.
But he chose to keep his female sexual organs so the couple could have children.
They bought sperm from an anonymous donor and Beatie underwent artificial insemination.

He eventually fell pregnant with Susan in late 2007 and had his next two children in quickly after, as he only had a short window of not taking testosterone.
He posed for a famous picture in 2007 which displayed him as heavily pregnant but with facial hair.
He told Oprah on her show four years ago: 'I wanted to have a child one day. I didn't know how. It was just a dream.'
The couple has been open about their sex life, revealing on Oprah that the testosterone had enlarged Beatie's clitoris. It grew to a small penis, allowing him to have sex with his wife, he said.
In another interview in March, Beatie and Nancy explained the stresses and strains they faced on a daily basis since coming into the public eye.
‘We have had a rough ride,’ said Beatie. 'We have had death threats, crazies. I’ve been called a freak. The really nasty stuff has come online, with email, Facebook and YouTube.
‘Some of it has just been weird - such as people going to Hallowe’en parties dressed as me, “The Pregnant Man”.
'Some of it has been terrifying. One man has made videos pretending he has kidnapped Susan. He has a Susan doll and he hits her over and over. It’s sick. 

Role reversal: Nancy hands their son Jensen to Thomas who is still in a hospital bed after giving birth

Happier times: Nancy is only allowed to see her children during three supervised visits a week

‘The FBI have been involved and they monitor things for us. The world is full of crazy people and we have to have our wits about us.’
Keeping life as normal as they could for their children Susan, Austin and Jensen, public interest in their unconventional family has always been intense and led to Beatie closing down his business.
In March, Beatie revealed he had filed for bankruptcy and was desperately seeking a job to get his family off welfare handouts and pay his $5,000-a-month mortgage
He tried to appear on celebrity dance show Dancing with the Stars last year but was pipped to the post by transgender contestant Chaz Bono.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2150242/Pregnant-Man-Thomas-Beatie-awarded-sole-custody-children-estranged-wife.html#ixzz1w5PSkUDd