Trans Moms Discuss Their Unique Parenting Challenges During the Pandemic – And What They Worry About When Things Go Back to ‘Normal’
Originally published as "Trans Moms Discuss Their Unique Parenting Challenges During the Pandemic –And What They Worry About When Things Go Back to ‘Normal," The Conversation, May 20, 2021.
Between 25% and 50% of transgender adults in the U.S. have children. Some have kids before coming out as trans, others adopt or foster, and some use egg or sperm cells they’ve frozen – usually before starting hormone replacement therapy.
As a sociologist who studies inequality and reproduction, I noticed that there are few discussions of how trans people – particularly trans women – experience parenthood. So in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, I interviewed 50 transgender women – both current and prospective parents – from across the country and from diverse racial and class backgrounds.