Pregnant Men: An International Exploration of Trans Male Experiences and Practices of Reproduction

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Many male transgender people (hereafter termed 'trans men') transition without undergoing surgery to remove their reproductive organs or reconstruct their genitals. Gender transition from female to male, then, does not necessarily take away the ability or, importantly, the desire to reproduce. The overall aim of this project is to gain an in-depth understanding of the practices, experiences, and health care needs of the growing number of men who may seek to, or become, pregnant and give birth after gender transition. The project will use a range of qualitative methods including interviews, focus groups, virtual analysis and visual methods. In order to consider the significance of national and international care standards and health practices, divergent welfare regimes and differing legal frameworks of recognition for trans people, the project will include the UK, US, Australia, Poland and Italy. Trans male pregnancy shows how shifts in gendered and intimate practices occur within changing social institutions, technological advances and developing cultural understandings. Vice versa, such social, technological and cultural transformations impact on how individuals live their gendered, bodily and intimate lives. Diversification of gendered, sexual and intimate practices, and advances in health care practices and reproductive technology, have significantly altered contemporary experiences of pregnancy and birth. Changing social and cultural attitudes about gender and sexual diversity, and legal advances around sexuality and parenting, have enabled the recognition of same-sex and gender diverse partnerships and allowed equal access to fostering, adoption and assisted reproductive technology. Over the last decade, same-sex parenting practices have received increasing social and cultural visibility, while legal shifts have foregrounded the rights of same-sex people to parent. Moreover, lesbian and gay parenting has emerged as a central site of inquiry within the field of sexuality studies, and in sociological studies of intimacy, kinship and personal life. Transgender practices of parenting, however, have received much less attention across social, cultural, legal, and academic spheres. Aspects of Hines' (PI) earlier work (2007; 2010) have considered the impact of gender transition on parenting relationships-thus exploring parenting through gender shifts. This project takes a different, and uncharted, turn in exploring the experiences of trans people who become parents after transition. In considering the relationship between gender identity, the gendered bodily, and masculinity and femininity at subjective levels, the project seeks to examine how trans male narratives of pregnancy and birth bring new understandings to the embodied and gendered processes of parenting. Legal and policy change pertaining to gender diversity has brought some levels of parity in terms of the relationship and parenting rights of gender diverse people. This project will examine the extent to which law and policy at international levels supports the health needs of this group of trans men and will consider the degree to which legal and policy frameworks impact upon decisions to become pregnant. Health care is a key area of trans campaigning organisations. It will explore the extent to which trans men feel supported and understood by health care professionals at pre and neo natal stages. At academic and practitioner levels, shifting family practices are linked to changes in reproductive technology. The project will address developments in reproductive technology and consider the level of which such advances impact on trans male pregnancy.Findings will be disseminated to interdisciplinary academic audiences, policy makers, health and medical professionals and practitioners, and stakeholders at international levels.