A Transgender man who made headlines after he married a woman and gave birth to 3 children is to appeal a ruling denying him a divorce from his wife of 10 years.

39-year-old Thomas Beatie was born a woman but began living as a man in his 20s and legally changed his name. Though he kept his female reproductive organs.

He married his wife Nancy in 2003 and went on to have 3 children through artificial insemination.

Now an Arizona resident Beatie filed for divorce last year seeking dissolution of his marriage and hoping to wed his new girlfriend.

Same-sex marriages not recognised

Last Friday a Family Court Judge ruled that Beatie had failed in his divorce petition to prove that he was a man when wed in 2003 and was therefore unable to show that he and his wife were a heterosexual couple.

Same-sex marriages are not recognised in the state of Arizona and so the Judge ruled that he could not grant Beatie a divorce.

The judge did however approve a property and custody settlement for the couple. The 39-year-old said he could seek review by the Arizona Court of Appeals or the US Supreme Court.