Reproductive Losses: Challenges to LGBTQ Family-Making PDF
Preview Reproductive Losses: Challenges to LGBTQ Family-Making
Craven brings forth seldom told narratives of struggle and loss in LGBTQ family building, bringing to light the totality of our experiences, providing validation, affirming ourhumanity,andgiving ourcare providersaroadmaptosupportus—a must read for anyone who works with queer and transgender parents, and a vital resource for any LGBTQ parent-to-be experiencing reproductive loss. —Kristin Kali, owner and Licensed Midwife at MAIA Midwifery & Fertility, professional trainer and consultant specializing in LGBTQ family building and gender inclusivity Craven’sinsightfulexaminationofthelayeredissuesofinstitutionalizedhomophobia, racism, and sexism providesa captivatingexposuretothe challengesLGBTQpeople faceinpursuitoffamilymaking.However,theintimateandcourageousaccountsare alsosteepedincultureandhistoryandfilledwithasenseofhope,determination,and strength.Thebook’snarrativesandconclusionsareintegratedintoaliterarystructure, writteninastylewhichisrelatableforanaudiencewiderthantheLGTBQcommu- nity.Itiscertaintoadvanceawarenessforanyoneinterestedinreproductivehealthand promoteneededchangeinthehealthcaresystem. —Lisa Paisley-Cleveland, PhD, LCSW, Sociology, Hunter College, author of Black Middle-Class Women and Pregnancy Loss It isn’t often that academic texts hold the potential to move the reader in the ways that Reproductive Losses does. Given the topic, the book is moving in expected ways: the narratives included are those of loss, trauma, and discrimination. Yet the book is also moving for the sensitive and heartfelt attention that Craven gives to the diverse narratives, her attention to holding loss and growth in tension, and her commitment to social change. —Damien W. Riggs, PhD, Psychology, Flinders University, psychotherapist, author (with Clemence Due) of A Critical Approach to Surrogacy In anthropologist Christa Craven's new book, previously invisible and silenced queerexperiencesofreproductivelossaremeticulouslyresearchedandthoughtfully presented. Craven’s work is a significant step forward in the conversation on reproductive justice and LGBTQ rights. This book and its companion website should be required reading for anyone who wishes to explore the complexities of mourning, grief, reproductive loss, and queer resiliency. —Cara Bergstrom-Lynch, PhD, Sociology, Eastern Connecticut University, author of Lesbians, Gays, and Bisexuals Becoming Parents or Remaining Childfree I strongly recommend Reproductive Losses: Challenges to LGBTQ Family-Making to parents, practitioners, and academics interested in understanding the complex and poignant dimensions of love, loss, and hope in queer parenting and family making. Craven eloquently and simultaneously weaves powerful first-hand accounts with incisive interdisciplinaryanalysesinthispioneeringbook.Iespeciallyappreciatethe relevanceofthisbookformultipleareasofclinicalandeducationalpracticeandthe inclusion of a rich array of LGBTQ parents from diverse racial, economic, sexual, and gender experiences. —Katherine R. Allen, PhD, Human Development and Family Science, Virginia Tech, co-editor of Handbook of Feminist Family Studies and LGBT-Parent Families REPRODUCTIVE LOSSES Although there are far more opportunities for LGBTQ people to become par- ents than there were before the 1990s, attention to the reproductive challenges LGBTQ families face has not kept pace. ReproductiveLossesconsidersLGBTQpeople’sexperienceswithmiscarriage,stillbirth, failed adoptions, infertility, and sterility. Drawing on Craven’s training as a feminist anthropologist and her experiences as a queer parent who has experienced loss, Repro- ductive Losses includes detailed stories drawn from over 50 interviews with LGBTQ people(includingthosewhocarriedpregnancies,non-gestationalandadoptiveparents, and families from a broad range of racial/ethnic, socio-economic, and religious back- grounds)toconsiderhowtheyexperienceloss,grief,andmourning.Thebookincludes productive suggestions and personal narratives of resiliency, commemorative strategies, andcommunalsupport,whilealsoacknowledgingtheadversitymanyLGBTQpeople faceastheyattempttoformfamiliesandtheheteronormativityofsupportresourcesfor thosewhohaveexperiencedreproductiveloss. This is essential reading for scholars and professionals interested in LGBTQ health and family, and for individuals in LGBTQ communities who have experi- enced loss and those who support them. Seeadditionalmaterialonthecompanionwebsite:www.lgbtqreproductiveloss.org Christa Craven is a cultural and medical anthropologist based at the College of Wooster in the US. Her research centers around reproductive health politics, practice, and activism. She is the former co-chair of the Association for Queer Anthropology. GENDER AND SEXUALITIES IN PSYCHOLOGY Series Editors: Elizabeth Peel and Elizabeth Stokoe Gender and Sexualities in Psychology is a book series showcasing scholarly work over a wide range of areas within gender and sexualities in psychology, and the inter- section of gender, feminism, sexualities and LGBTIQ psychology with other areas of the discipline. The series includes theoretically and empirically informed scholarship including critical,feminist,queer,trans,social,andintersectionalperspectives,andencourages creative and innovative methodological approaches. The series adopts an inclusive approach to the discipline of psychology, as well as its cross-cutting relationship to related disciplines, and recognizes diversity in research on genders and sexualities. Titles in the series: Emergent Identities New Sexualities, Genders and Relationships in a Digital Era Rob Cover For further information about this series please visit: www.routledge.com/Gender-and-Sexualities-in-Psychology/book-series/GSP REPRODUCTIVE LOSSES Challenges to LGBTQ Family-Making Christa Craven Firstpublished2019 byRoutledge 2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,OxonOX144RN andbyRoutledge 52VanderbiltAvenue,NewYork,NY10017 RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninformabusiness ©2019ChristaCraven TherightofChristaCraventobeidentifiedasauthorofthisworkhasbeen assertedbytheminaccordancewithsections77and78oftheCopyright,Designs andPatentsAct1988. Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedorreproducedor utilisedinanyformorbyanyelectronic,mechanical,orothermeans,now knownorhereafterinvented,includingphotocopyingandrecording,orinany informationstorageorretrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwritingfromthe publishers. Trademarknotice:Productorcorporatenamesmaybetrademarksorregistered trademarks,andareusedonlyforidentificationandexplanationwithoutintentto infringe. Visitthecompanionwebsite:www.lgbtqreproductiveloss.org BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Acatalogrecordhasbeenrequestedforthisbook ISBN:978-1-138-36269-7(hbk) ISBN:978-1-138-36325-0(pbk) ISBN:978-0-429-43171-5(ebk) TypesetinBembo byTaylor&FrancisBooks To the many LGBTQ individuals and families who face reproductive losses CONTENTS List of Illustrations x List of Boxes xi Acknowledgments xiii Abbreviations xvii Terminology: Politics and Practice xviii 1 A Political and Personal Commitment 1 2 Troubling the “Progressive” Narrative 17 3 Methodological Considerations 37 4 LGBTQ Stories of Reproductive Loss 59 5 Encountering Adversity 77 6 Deafening Heteronormativity 101 7 Economic Precarity 117 8 Malleable Losses 137 9 Queer Resiliency 155 10 Moving Forward 176 Appendix A: Invitation to Participate Flyer 181 Appendix B: Interview Questions 182 Notes 186 Bibliography 211 Index 234
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