I saw the picture and thought maybe science advanced to the point where an individual born as a bio male was able to obtain a uterus via surgery in the process of transitioning from male to female.

But then I realized this is a bio woman who has removed her breasts and taken male hormones.

Yet she is sustaining a pregnancy. Disconcerting. I am not a hater of transgendered people although I do suspect that they suffer a form of body dysmorphia not unlike anorectics. (I can't even pierce my ears or countenence a nose job or tattoo, so that is the perspective I am coming from).

I feel bad for this child that it won't be able to nurse. Breast is best, but at least there is decent formula available when nursing doesn't work out.

What really concerns me is the amount of male hormones coursing through this persons body-- they must certainly affect the child's development in utero.

No?

Even a slight imbalance in maternal hormones can result in minor or serious birth defects. I know this.

I hope that this child is born healthy. Whether Beattie wants to be thought of as a pregnant man or a pregnant woman-- the point is, once you are pregnant you are supposed to quit alcohol, stop eating sushi, do plenty of other things for the health of the baby and to minimize risks of a miscarriage or birth defect.

You put your child's needs first. If this person has for nine months taken testosterone supplements or estrogen suppressants or limited progesterone because of a selfish need to retain "maleness"-- that certainly puts the baby at risk.

From a moral and ethical perspective, shouldn't the decision to carry a child necessarily place the safety of the child above one's personal choice of gender or gender identity politics?

A few posters upthread mentioned the effect of the hormone treatments on the gestating fetus.

Just want to add a bit more-- hormonal imbalances in the pregnant woman can have a direct effect on the developing sex characteristics and genitalia of the baby in utero.

Hormonal imbalances can cause malformations and defects, like hypospadias.

Some hypospadias are minor, easily corrected with surgery.

However, in severe hypospadias-- when the meatus is so misplaced on the penis-- the surgery is much more complicated. So much so, that in the 1950s and 1960s, many doctors immediately and automatically performed gender reassignment surgery so that the young boy would be raised as a woman.

IRONICALLY these children became part of the first wave of transgendered people, who were often unaware of the reasons why they never stopped feeling like a male trapped inside a female's body.

REALLY I HOPE THIS BABY IS BORN HEALTHY AND PERFECT.

Do you need to matriculate for this?

You are unemployed, presumably you have time on your hands.

Can you not just begin volunteering at the local gallery or museum and self-studying at the local university library?

You have no money. Do you plan to borrow money to pay tuition? Do you realize that you will not be able to simply declare bankrupcty at the end of your studies because-- whoops-- you have a degree but no employment prospects and you are nearing the age of social security but not quite there yet.

The law is very clear you will never be able to discharge your student loans in bankruptcy.

Going back to school late in life and pursuing a degree in something for personal satisfication rather than employment prospects is an economic choice and frankly, it is a bad one.

If you remain unemployed when your degree is completed, you will surely remain in debt for the rest of your life. The best you will get is a payment plan that will be adjusted for your annual income.

Art history can be self taught. Art is free and in the public domain. Get yourself a membership pass to your local museums and a library card.

You don't need to pay anyone else to teach you art history. You can immerse yourself in museums, library books, online art history discussion groups and local art lovers' groups. If you are not qualified to work as a museum docent, get a job or volunteer gig at the local museum gift shop.

Oh, and get off your friends floor. There is no dignity in that.

Get a job waiting tables if you must to pay rent. You are an artist. There is no shame in having a day job that pays the rent. You are too young and too poor to consider retirement at 56.

She's not ready to commit to you, maybe not to anyone. She doesn't want to settle down for the long term right now.

That itchy dissatisfied restless feeling she is trying to explain to you has less to do with sexual excitement and chemistry and everything to do with wanting to cut her own way in life for the time being.

She may not be ready to settle down for the long haul and family life with someone for another 8-12 years.

Some 24 year old women are dying to settle down and start making babies.

Your girlfriend isn't one of them.

Read Erica Jong's Fear of Flying. I've recommended this book before, for different reasons. Actually, I recommended it to a SYA poster who was a lot like your girlfriend, bored with a steady guy and looking to cheat on him for more excitement.

If you love her, set her free, cry for two weeks, then get over it and move on with your life.

Don't wait for her. You will probably meet the love of your life within four months of breaking up so don't waste your time on this freebird.