“You’re Going to Want to Freeze Your Eggs”: Conversations Surrounding Fertility between Healthcare Professionals, Parents, and Transgender Adolescents
Advances in Trans Studies: Moving Toward Gender Expansion and Trans Hope
ISBN: 978-1-80262-030-6, eISBN: 978-1-80262-029-0
Publication date: 19 November 2021
Abstract
Over the past decade, there has been an increase in the number of transgender adolescents that receive gender-affirming hormones. While the long-term repercussions of taking hormones are understudied, it is possible that one of the impacts is infertility. Although infertility is not definite, healthcare professionals are still responsible for discussing fertility preservation with transgender adolescent patients, which encourages a population of young people to determine whether or not they want to biologically have children in the future. Drawing on in-depth interviews with healthcare professionals, parents, and transgender adolescents, this study explores the thoughts and perceptions pertaining to fertility and how these three groups work with one another throughout transition. My findings show that (1) adult participants (parents and healthcare professionals) have mental barriers, which include fear of regret and grief over the loss of anticipated biological motherhood, (2) there is a delay in the conversation happening between the healthcare professionals, parents, and trans adolescents, and (3) trans adolescents reject fertility, but are open to building a family. I argue that cisnormative and transnormative ideologies overshadow these conversations, which could result in limiting the potential for queer biological parenthood. The chapter ends with suggestions for how to make conversations pertaining to fertility preservation more expansive to dismantle transnormativity.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgments
I could not have written this chapter without the participants, especially the adolescents. Their willingness to speak openly was brave and I sincerely appreciate their time. I would like to thank my advisor, Dr Krista Brumley for her guidance and encouragement. I also want to thank my colleague and friend, Salam Aboulhassan, for pushing me to write.
Citation
Toman, L. (2021), "“You’re Going to Want to Freeze Your Eggs”: Conversations Surrounding Fertility between Healthcare Professionals, Parents, and Transgender Adolescents", Johnson, A.H., Rogers, B.A. and Taylor, T. (Ed.) Advances in Trans Studies: Moving Toward Gender Expansion and Trans Hope (Advances in Gender Research, Vol. 32), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 45-59. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1529-212620210000032004
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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