Trans Pregnancy in a Repronormative World

Abstract

Not every person who gives birth is a woman or mother. However, legal frameworks in many countries insist that they are. This chapter demonstrates that legal frameworks around pregnancy, childbirth and parenthood are often repronormative in their effects, maintaining the hegemonic sex/gender order at the expense of the dignity of trans people who have given birth to their own children. To explore why and how these repronormative effects persist, this chapter explores two case studies of trans men who have given birth in the UK and Israel respectively, and the legal battles they faced to be recognised as fathers who have given birth. It pulls together sociological and legal scholarship to critique existing legal frameworks in Europe and beyond and explore potential solutions to the barriers they create. It concludes by placing these arguments in a wider sociological and political debate around trans and reproductive rights.