Pregnant American man Thomas Beatie has given birth to a baby girl.

After going into labour early on Sunday, the former sex-swap patient had his daughter by Caesarean section at a hospital in Bend, Oregon, according to a U.S. television network.

'She's really cute, really pretty,' a source told ABC news.

Postnatal: Thomas Beatie leaves St Charles Medical Centre after giving birth to a healthy baby girl

Beatie's wife Nancy was present throughout the birth of her third daughter

A hospital source said: 'The baby girl is healthy and the mother - or father - and baby have been allowed to leave the hospital.'

The 34-year-old 'mother' caused headlines around the world three months ago when pictures of the wispy bearded transgender man were published showing his bulging belly.

Although he was born a woman, Beatie had his breasts surgically removed and legally changed his gender to male 10 years ago.

Baby girl: The couple's newborn tot was quickly carried out of the hospital to the safety of a waiting car

Despite years of hormone therapy and living outwardly as a man, Beatie claimed he retained his female sex organs because he intended to conceive one day.

'I feel it's not a male or female desire to have a child. It's a human need. I'm a person and I have the right to have a biological child,' he told the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Beatie was impregnated by sperm from a donor, which was inseminated at home by his wife using a do-it-yourself kit.

After facing opposition from doctors, they bought donor vials from a cryogenic sperm bank.

Controversial: Twenty-two weeks into his pregnancy Thomas Beatie caused a storm by releasing this picture

The couple, who ran a screenprinting business together called Define Normal, decided he would carry their child as wife Nancy  had a hysterectomy 20 years ago.

The 45-year-old, who has been married to Beatie for five years, has two daughters from her first marriage.

Gardening with wife Nancy, Beatie wears a t-shirt baring his company's name 'Define Normal'

Looking tired, Beatie was captured by TV cameras yesterday leaving the St Charles Medical Centre in Bend, Oregon. A woman who appeared to be a nurse walked a few yards behind with a baby carrier covered by a white blanket.

A former beauty pageant contestant, Beatie told The Advocate, a U.S. magazine for gays, lesbians and transgender people, that he fell pregnant earlier with triplets but they had to be aborted because of dangerous complications.

After losing the babies, he claimed his brother told him it was probably for the best, adding: 'Who knows what kind of monster it would have been?'

He conceded that he and his wife are in unchartered territory and that they have faced opposition from family, friends and the medical profession.

However, despite the unusual circumstances their child has been conceived in, Beatie's obstetrician claimed the pregnancy was uncomplicated.

Dr Kimberly James told Oprah when the couple controversially went on her chatshow earlier this year: "This baby is totally healthy. This is what I consider a normal pregnancy."

Born Tracy Lagondino, he said he and his wife are legally married because Beatie is legally a man. They plan to provide a happy home for their baby girl. 'Love makes a family and that's all that matters,' he said.

'We're so excited. I just cannot wait to hold her in my arms and be a father. I can't believe she's inside me. She's our little miracle. I'm looking forward to holding her for the first time, to finally get to touch her and see her face.'

'I feel it's not a male or female desire to have a child,' he argued. 'It's a human need. I'm a person and I have the right to have a biological child. I have a very stable male identity.'

Despite giving birth to his daughter, Beatie claims there will be no confusion over who she calls dad. 'I will be my daughter's father and Nancy will be her mother. We will be a family.'

The couple are understood to have sold their story for an unspecified amount but are expected to earn an estimated £500,000 for the first pictures of their newborn.