The Birth of a Botfly - Not for the Squeamish

[iyoichi]

Dr. Mark W. Moffett (also known as "Dr. Bugs" for his extensive research and contributions, and "crazy" for his methods) is quite a character in the entomology and conservationist world. If you've ever seen a picture of a bug in National Geographic, it was probably by him as they've used over 500 of his photographs. Below the cut, you can see his

Comments

[four_calamities]

IT'S A GIRL. IT'S A GIIIIIRRRRLLLL.

I have to say, he's one brave dude; and I have to agree, he's probably as close as to experiencing the miracle of birth as any man will probably get, hahaha.

I found this incredibly entertaining. Gross, but entertaining. He's pretty devoted to his interests. Also, that is one nasty hole in his hand. I've always wondered what the risk would be of a bot fly burrowing too close to a major artery or vein, and causing a little more damage than intended as a result. Or if the damage resulting from fly-chewing on the muscles would be permanent. I saw one instance where one had burrowed into someone's neck. That was disgusting.

[iyoichi]

AIN'T HE THE NEATEST?!

Someone asked him about the damage done in the youtube commentary. I'm actually curious myself about the same thing...

[soren_grey]

I have to say, he's one brave dude; and I have to agree, he's probably as close as to experiencing the miracle of birth as any man will probably get, hahaha.

http://www.wellsphere.com/general-medicine-article/men-can-now-get-pregnant/256542

[four_calamities]

Holy crap, I forgot about Lee.

[iyoichi]

Hoax, but still fun.

[four_calamities]

Oh. WELL THEN, I'll go back to my original statement.

[theweaselking]

[iyoichi]

... okay, I'll give it to you.

[skittlewolf]

Yay Thomas Beatie!

[lovelynepenthe]

He does very carefully (it seems) stipulate "male human being" not "man". Mr. Beattie is a man, but he still is chromosomally female (barring intersex conditions, which would probably preclude pregnancy anyway) and has the requisite manufacturing equipment pre-installed, apparently. (I wasn't particularly impressed with his publicity stunt; I can't imagine he's the only trans man to have ever given birth.

Having a XY male human without a uterus would be an impressive trick, biologically speaking.

[heartttcore]

You're correct, Mr. Beattie is far from being the only trans male to ever give birth. I know men personally who've done it, and without going on Oprah too. (He's probably done it the most times, though! He's up to something like 4 kids now.)

Also, there's no reason to bar intersex conditions. They're actually quite common, occurring in 1.7% of all births in the US. (Compare, for instance with the rate of albino births -- 1 in 20,000 -- a condition, which is significantly rarer but one which most people can recall having seen at least once.) 1 in 500 males are born with an extra X chromosome (XXY), but of those only half actually have Klinefelter Syndrome. Point being: being intersex isn't odd or unlikely. Also, sex ain't all in the chromosomes. In fact, it's mostly other places.

[lovelynepenthe]

I was under the impression that female humans with abnormal sex chromosome number were generally infertile and that thus Beattie must be XX, but I seem to have been wrong there. (And I should have specified XX anyway.)

Side note: one of the downsides of being totally engrossed in the academic/scientific world, for me at least, is the sometimes upsetting experiences I have with the internet. I just happily and unthinkingly typed "XXX" into google, expecting to find information on intersex as the top hits. A week ago, I searched "LaTeX tips" and was similarly thwarted.

[heartttcore]

For the record, it is possible to be a genetic XX male.

Honestly? I'll bet you neither Thomas Beattie nor any of his doctors could confirm his karyotype as being one thing or another. Most people don't get tested for genetic "abnormalities" unless physical symptoms present, which I guess is why genetic intersex conditions are so stigmatized. Is his karyotype most probably XX? Yeah, sure. But it doesn't sit right with me to make that assumption because karyotypes are, again, far from the only contributing factor when it comes to the development of primary sex characteristics.

[iyoichi]

I love this whole conversation. ♥

[logansrogue]

Me too. Respectful of his trans status, but totally scientific. <3!

[theidolhands]

agree.