Trans Pregnancy and Childbirth
- Date: 4 June 2025, 14:15–16:00
- Location: Centre for Gender Research, 12:07 (KWB)
- Type: Seminar
- Lecturer: Ruth Pearce, University of Glasgow
- Organiser: Centre for Gender Research
- Contact person: Sanja Nivesjö
Open Gender Research Seminar with Ruth Pearce. On experiences, needs, and perspectives of trans birth parents from a trans feminist perspective.
The figure of the “pregnant man” has been the subject of extensive hyperbole and moral panic. These portrayals contrast greatly with the grounded materiality of trans parents’ lives. The reality is that many trans men and non-binary people are born with a uterus and ovaries. They are therefore potentially capable of conceiving, carrying, and giving birth to a child.
This talk will look broadly at the experiences, needs, and perspectives of trans birth parents from a trans feminist perspective. It will draw on findings from across two studies which together engaged with over a hundred individuals: the international, qualitative Trans Pregnancy project (2017-2021), and the mixed-methods English research project Improving Trans Experiences of Maternity Services (2020-2021). Key topics will include pathways to conception, the role of perinatal services, the impact of hormone use, pregnancy loss, gender-based violence, and discourses of fatness.
Ruth Pearce / Photo: Kirsty Lohman
With more trans people giving birth every year, this talk will emphasise the importance of centring lived experience rather than sensationalism. In contrast to commentaries that seek to pit the needs of women and trans people against one another, it will argue for collaboration across shared interests, transforming both social discourse and service provision for all mothers, all fathers, all parents.
About Ruth Pearce
Dr Ruth Pearce is Lecturer in Community Development at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, and Senior Fellow at the Center for Applied Transgender Studies in Chicago, USA. Her research explores themes of inequality, marginalisation, power, and transformative political struggle from a trans feminist perspective. She is the author of Understanding Trans Health (Policy Press, 2018), has co-edited the books The Emergence of Trans (Routledge, 2019) and TERF Wars (Sage, 2020), and is currently co-editor of the Community Development Journal. Ruth also plays bass guitar in the noise-pop band wormboys, and blogs at http://ruthpearce.net.