A US man who is six months pregnant has spoken out on The Oprah Winfrey Show yesterday, calling his pregnancy a "miracle."

Thomas Beatie's sex change operation 10 years ago did not affect his reproductive system. He appeared on the show with his wife Nancy. She claims to have inseminated him using sperm from an anonymous donor. Their doctor says it is a normal pregnancy.

He said his pregnancy was a "human desire" and that he is "a person and I have the right to have my own biological child."

Mr Beatie told chat show host Oprah Winfrey he had always wanted a child. He explained that his wife was unable to get pregnant because she had a hysterectomy.

“I see pregnancy as a process and it doesn’t define who I am. “Ironically, being pregnant doesn’t make me feel any more female or feminine. It doesn't make me want to go and shave my legs or something. I'm a man, I just happen to be a pregnant man.

"It's not a male or female desire to have a child," he said. " It's a human desire. I have a very stable male identity."

"I opted not to do anything with my reproductive organs because I wanted to have a child one day. I didn't know how. It was just a dream."

Viewers in the US on saw footage of Mr Beatie's ultrasound scan and heard a heartbeat.

He said: "I can't believe it. I can't believe she's inside me. We see her as our little miracle."

The baby would be "daddy's little princess", said Mr Beatie, who described himself as a tomboy growing up.

Pregnant man reveals ultrasound to Oprah

Beatie was born female and lived as a woman until his 20s. He also competed in the Miss Teen Hawaii USA pageant. He later underwent gender reassignment surgery.

The most important message, said Beatie: "Different is normal and love makes a family. And that's all that matters."

Mr Beatie's doctor, Dr Kimberly James, told Oprah Winfrey: "This baby is totally healthy. This is what I consider a normal pregnancy."