Pregnancy in transmen

[PurplePim]

This is an interesting summary of some American research into pregnancy in transmen. They include those who've changed their 'gender marker' from F to M and those with a diagnosis of gender dysphoria (would this include some non-binary women?)

Particularly interesting to me was the fact that only 0.07% of deliveries was to this group, so a very small percentage, and that's in America. It's baffling to think of the accommodations some people want to make for this group at the expense of women's experiences given how unusual it is in the first place.

Also interesting was that some medical insurance companies appear to remove birth related coverage if a woman changes her marker from F to M. Does this apply to other female specific conditions? Mind boggling either way. Do they genuinely believe they've changed sex, or, call me cynical, is this a handy cost saving exercise?

I note this study does not include foetal outcomes, including miscarriage, or the potential health impacts on the children of these pregnancies of testosterone exposure.

www.medscape.com/s/viewarticle/993939

Thanks for the link, OP - very interesting.

Did you do the 0.07 calculation yourself? I couldn't see it in the paper, but I assume it's based on this paragraph:

"During this time period, the researchers identified 256 transgender patients and 1.3 million cisgender patients in their Medicaid database and 1,651 transgender patients and 1.5 million cisgender patients in the commercial database who had experienced a delivery."

I wish someone would do similar research on the number of NHS patients who give birth who identify as trans, but I don't think there's a single national NHS database, just lots of individual databases at different hospitals.

Yes, I used those numbers. I agree that the UK numbers will be hard to pin down. The insurance company databases are useful for this kind of thing.

I got 0.068%, so yep, after rounding, 0.07%.

I remain baffled as to why anyone who wants to be a bloke and is convinced that they are in fact a bloke also wants to get pregnant. 🤯🤯🤯

@EdithStourton I remain baffled as to why anyone who wants to be a bloke and is convinced that they are in fact a bloke also wants to get pregnant.

I am similarly confused and would like someone to explain it to me. I respect the right of people to transition if they have gender dysphoria. I also respect the right of individuals to choose to become pregnant. However, asking the question is seen as challenging a woman’s right to choose - rather than trying to understand a different perspective.

I assume it’s because they want a biological child and don’t want to have to use a surrogate, surely that’s not too complicated to understand? Maybe in an ideal world they wouldn’t want to get pregnant but if you are female it’s the only way to have a biological child without using a surrogate and going through invasive procedures such as egg harvesting etc, there is no option for a trans an to impregnate another woman with a sperm regardless of how much they want to be or feel like they are a man. I suppose the biological drive to have a child is often greater in that case than the wish to align with what they see as male.

From those who have been very public about it, I'd assume Occam's Razor, for the attention of how super special and wonderful they are and will of course need everyone to be focused on them and celebrate them.
Meanwhile for the majority of pregnant women, they'll get the same not too great service. Not blaming the actual front line staff here at all!

I assume it’s because they want a biological child and don’t want to have to use a surrogate, surely that’s not too complicated to understand?
I can't get past the cognitive dissonance.
Surely that isn't hard to understand either?

There's a fair amount of discussion about this on earlier FWR threads. For some, it ties in with reproductive justice. For others, it's a desire to have a family and is planned (suspending testosterone etc.), and for others, it's an unplanned pregnancy that may or may not include dysphoria about contraception.

Some also seem to interpret 'woman' as solely having to do with stereotypes, and what they feel dysphoria about are those (what I'd call sexist beliefs concerning how women think, act, feel, should be treated), not the female body.

Also interesting was that some medical insurance companies appear to remove birth related coverage if a woman changes her marker from F to M.

I’d assume because of the added risks and complications involved.

Found the following in some MN notes.

It used to be said that the biggest backlash will occur when the rising cohort of transitioned girls grow up and realise they’ve been sterilized

A WHRC webinar [in 2021?] had a presentation by a Swedish author (Kajsa Ekis Ekman) who reported that she had been contacted by a Swedish infertility clinician who claimed to be seeing increasing numbers of women in their 20s who (after testing) have atrophy of their reproductive organs. These are women who had been treated with puberty blockers and cross hormones at a young age and gone on to have difficulty with conception. (It seems that they had detransitioned but this wasn't entirely clear.)

I agree with that @RethinkingLife, there is going to be a huge scandal like the Infected Blood and vaginal mesh scandals.

Some medical professionals have effectively been experimenting on children.

Well if women can have penises, men can get pregnant.

Jennifer Lahl gave a shocking presentation on this subject at the Genspect conference in Denver. I cant find the link

I watched a UK documentary movie that came out a few years ago, saw it at ICA cinema and can't remember what it was called.

A quick google search shows one called 'Seahorse' but I'm not sure that's the one I saw as I seem to recall the transgendered female (having the baby) was in a relationship with a woman and in this one it says different.

Anyhow whatever happened the struggle was immense to reverse the effects of hormones and take others in order to become impregnated plus the emotional toll and then to do it again the other way.

By the end their relationship / friendship had ended and it all seemed a bit sad IMO but it was explicit and detailed and would provide the viewer everything you'd need to know about how it happens.